Wicked Intentions
by snapeisalive
Summary: As Snape's apprentice, Hermione has fallen for Severus...he just doesn't know it yet. Lucius Malfoy takes up the Transfiguration position with the intentions of seeking revenge on Hermione and Severus. Will Hermione's dreams be destroyed by Lucius?
1. Returning Home

Hello my lovely readers! I'm back with a completely new story that I hope you will all enjoy. Let me know exactly what you guys think about it…any feedback is welcome!

As always everything is owned by the fabulous JKR…I just like playing with her characters.

Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Wicked Intentions

Chapter 1

Returning Home

The beauty and awe had not worn off even after ten years away from the castle she used to call home. As Hermione stepped off the Hogwart's express and onto the station's platform she couldn't help but to take a moment to bask in the wonder that the castle exuded. It had been quite a long time since she was in its presence but the feeling of familiarity washed over her and she knew she had arrived back home at last.

With the nostalgic moment finally over, Hermione shrank her trunks, put them in the pockets of her navy blue dress robes, and took a seat in the thestral-drawn carriage just a few meters from where she was standing. She could see the thestrals now thanks to the death and destruction of the final battle…but at least the Dark Lord was vanquished and the wizarding world was at peace.

On her journey up to the castle she reflected on how she had ended up back at her old alma mater. She had heard rumors of an open Potion's apprenticeship with Professor Snape at Hogwart's. She didn't think that he ever took apprentices and it was her dream position. She immediately applied and within a few weeks received a brief congratulatory letter from Professor Snape welcoming her to his apprenticeship program. It had all happened so fast! She quit her job with the ministry, packed up her entire life and left for Hogwart's. And now here she was-sitting in a carriage on her way up to the castle.

She felt a jerk and the carriage come to a stop. Hermione took a step out of the carriage and was welcomed with a tight hug from her former mentor, Headmistress McGonagall.

"Welcome, Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall said enthusiastically, "It's so great to have you back with us."

Professor McGonagall released Hermione from her death-grip and took a step back to look her over approvingly.

"It's great to be back, Headmistress," Hermione said politely in return.

"Please, enough with that Headmistress nonsense- its Minerva," she responded back.

"Head…Minerva, please call me Hermione then," Hermione said back with a smile.

"Of course, dear. Now it's time to get you settled in before the students arrive tomorrow. I'm sorry this was such a last minute decision but you know how Professor Snape is…,"Minerva said as she ushered Hermione through the doors of the castle and into the majestic stony foyer.

Once Hermione was inside she noticed a movement in the shadows. It was so silent and almost imperceptible that she thought she had imagined it for a moment.

"Severus. Quit hiding in the shadows and welcome your new apprentice properly. There's no need to be rude," Minerva said loudly into the seemingly empty corridor.

"I wasn't hiding, Minerva. I was simply observing. Miss Granger…,"Professor Snape said as he inclined his head slightly in Hermione's direction.

Hermione's heart fluttered inside her chest. She still had a crush on him after all of these years. No one but Ginny Potter knew about it, but Hermione still adored him. How she wished that he would just return the sentiment. She figured this was the only kind of welcome she was going to get from the man so she confidently nodded her head back in acknowledgement.

"Well, I trust that Severus will show you to your rooms, Hermione. Get yourself settled in and I shall see you at the staff dinner tonight," Minerva said to the young woman before quickly walking off into the darkness of the hallway.

"I see that you are on a first name basis with the Headmistress already, Miss Granger. But see to it that you remain professional with me. Professor Snape or sir will do," Severus said with his nose turned up at Hermione.

Hermione resisted rolling her eyes at him and decided to start off on the right foot and just be obedient-no matter how much it was against her nature.

"Yes, sir," Hermione answered.

"Follow me, then," Severus said as he quickly turned with his billowing robes flowing behind him and made his way down the hallway.

His abrupt departure took Hermione by surprise and he was already out of sight by the time she recovered. She broke out into a slight jog to keep up with him before returning to a walk once she was by his side. His strides were so much longer then hers because he was well over six feet tall and she was barely over five on a good day. But she managed to keep up and was a bit out of breath by the time they arrived in the dungeons.

"Unfortunately your rooms are right next to mine because of some ridiculous by-law. Do try not to disturb me unless the circumstances are dire," Severus said as he lifted the wards on her door and ushered her into the room.

It was enormous to say the least. Although there was only one bedroom it had the most luxurious amenities and furnishings. Her king size bed had a feather top and down comforter that was the fluffiest she had ever seen. The entire room was decorated in navy blue and gold, her two favorite colors. Whoever had chosen the colors and furniture knew her style well. Her bathroom contained both a glass encased shower with two showerheads and a 2-person Jacuzzi bathtub with his and her sinks against the walls-all in dark marble. The living room was encased in rows and rows of mahogany bookshelves filled with the rarest books and furnished with dark brown leather furniture and a beautiful Persian rug. This place was the closest to heaven she had ever been.

"I will leave you to unpack. Dinner will be served promptly at 6'oclock. Don't be late," Severus said as he left her shell-shocked standing in her living room.

Hermione gave a girlish scream out loud once she heard the door slam shut. She had her dream rooms at her dream job with her dream man. Nothing could bring her down!

With a sigh she then began to enthusiastically unpack her trunks.

* * *

As Severus huffed his way back to his office to continue his lesson plans for the upcoming school year, he cursed Minerva McGonagall. He hadn't taken on an apprentice since he began working for the damned school and now he was stuck with Miss Granger of all people. He recalled back to how he had gotten into this situation in the first place with the meeting from a few days ago:

"_Severus, thank you for coming on such short notice," Minerva said to him from behind her desk as she gestured for him to take a seat in one of the chairs._

"_As if I had a choice, Minerva," Severus scowled back._

"_I have been thinking, Severus. The Great War has been over for nearly ten years now and yet you still have not taken on an apprentice in all these years. I think it would be lovely if you enriched the mind of one of your former students," Minerva said with a twinkle in her eye._

'_Is that damned twinkle a pre-requisite for getting the position,' Severus wondered to himself. He knew she was up to no good-nothing good ever comes from that twinkle._

"_As 'lovely' of an idea as that is, I think I will have to decline. I'm much too busy already to be looking after another dunderhead, let alone bringing one back from the past," Severus argued sarcastically._

"_Now, Severus, I must say that there isn't much room for an argument here. It is my duty as Headmistress to ensure that the educational future of the wizarding community is withheld to the highest standards. You will have an apprentice and that is final," Minerva said a little more sternly now. She knew that Severus was going to put up a fight, but it was good for the man. He shouldn't be alone for the rest of his life._

"_I refuse to put out an ad or anything of the sort for this little endeavor of yours. You can't force me to do that," Severus responded angrily._

"_Stop acting like a stubborn child, Severus. Of course I wouldn't ask you to do that," Minerva said to appease Severus's anger._

_Severus sighed a breath of relief and settled himself smugly back in his chair. He had found the loop-hole to her demands and he wouldn't have to have an apprentice after all._

"_I already put out an ad in the Daily Prophet and I had a number of responses back. The only qualified one was Hermione Granger, you remember her don't you?" Minerva said innocently back. _

"_Damn it, Minerva! First you push this whole apprenticeship on me and now I found out that you hired someone for the position already behind my back, and that witch is Hermione Granger! You will be the death of me, woman!" Severus quickly stood up out of his chair to yell at Minerva._

"_It will be good for you, Severus. She is a brilliant young witch- by far the best student since you to have passed through these doors. She will arrive at the castle in a couple days and you better be on your best behavior. Don't take your anger with me out on her either," Minerva said calmly but sternly._

"_Fine. But I'm not going to act like I'm happy that the little chit is around. You and your meddling, Minerva. I swear that you're just as bad or worse than Albus ever was," Severus said as he made his way to the door and left the office._

_Minerva leaned back in her chair with a grin on her face._

"_He's right you know. But I have to say, my dear, that Hermione Granger was the best choice. I think the young woman may even adore him a bit," Albus Dumbledore said from his portrait that rested against the wall immediately behind the Headmistress's desk._

"_Exactly my thoughts, Albus. I just hope that he can see it. He deserves to be happy," Minerva said with a sigh and a glance back at the portrait._

Severus knew that she was meddling in his life somehow. He just couldn't imagine the impact that is was going to have on his future.

* * *

It was 5:50 and Hermione had just left her rooms. She walked as quickly as she could towards the Great Hall from the dungeons- she couldn't be late for her first staff gathering.

She arrived at 5:59 and took a moment outside the doors to collect herself and even out her breathing and clothing. She shut her eyes for a moment to calm down but opened them quickly once she heard a man's voice behind her.

"Sleeping on the job already, Miss Granger?" Severus said coldly before entering the Great Hall.

Hermione huffed in irritation before following the Potion's Master to the table where the staff was gathered for dinner.

Everyone was chatting with Hermione and welcoming her back to Hogwart's. It was the same old professors plus Remus Lupin was back in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. It was nice that not much had changed since she left. It was going to make her transition back much smoother.

"Please, everyone take your seats so we can start the meeting and eventually get to dinner," Minerva said while standing at the head of the table.

The staff immediately took their seats. It seemed to Hermione that everyone had their unofficial 'assigned' seats and that left her sitting next to Professor Snape in one of the only remaining seats left.

'This should be interesting,' Hermione thought to herself before taking her seat. Maybe he would finally take notice of her if she was next to him during every meal.

Before Minerva even began speaking again she noticed that the seat immediately to her right was still empty. She took a quick glance around the room and didn't see any other professors unseated.

Very interesting.

"As you all know, my successor to the Transfiguration position- Professor Hanover- chose an early retirement to spend time with her grandchildren and has left us for this school year. This left me with an opening to fill. Unfortunately there weren't many options to choose from and I was unable to do so," Minerva began her tale.

All the staff murmured to each other. What were they going to do without a Transfiguration teacher when classes were beginning in the next two days?

"Yesterday the Board of Governors stepped in to solve this problem. They have chosen one of their own to take over Transfiguration for this upcoming school year. Everyone, please welcome Professor Lucius Malfoy," Minerva said less than enthusiastically.

The room fell silent as the doors to the Great Hall burst open to reveal the pompous man. Lucius Malfoy looked the same as he did ten years ago. His long blond hair, perfectly sculpted face, and ugly upturned nose had not changed. It seems that his brief stint in Azkaban had not affected him at all. This was going to be a very interesting school year indeed.

Hermione felt Professor Snape stiffen as Lucius Malfoy walked by. The two men had once been very close friends but Severus's betrayal had obviously tarnished their relationship.

Hermione gasped when Lucius Malfoy sat down next to her. He immediately put his hand on her thigh, raised his eyebrow, caressed her leg a bit and then removed it before anyone but she had noticed. Her skin crawled after he touched her and she couldn't wait to be out of his presence.

"Thank you, everyone, for having me. This should be a pleasant school year together," Lucius said arrogantly. The staff didn't seem to agree.

"Well, that is all for my announcements for tonight. Now let's feast," Minerva said and with a wave of her hand delicious food appeared on the table and the chatter began once more.

Hermione piled some food on her plate but her once ravenous appetite had been lost the second Lucius Malfoy sat down right next to her.

The talk in the room became louder and louder even though, Severus, Lucius, and Hermione all ate in silence.

Lucius once more slipped his left hand under the table to caress Hermione's thigh. She tried to remove it but he just gripped it tighter. His eyes then met hers and he smirked.

"My revenge will be very sweet won't it, Miss Granger?" Lucius asked maliciously.

Hermione scowled back at him before pushing her chair back and excusing herself from the table to leave the Great Hall.

Nobody had heard or noticed the interaction between the two so all were surprised by her abrupt departure from dinner.

Lucius ate the rest of his meal with an evil smirk smeared across his face. His plan was in motion.

* * *

Author's note:

OK everyone, the first chapter is complete. What do you think? Should I continue? What is Lucius going to do to poor Hermione?

Reviews of any sort are welcome! Just take a minute to make me a very very happy writer!


	2. The Awakening Potion

Alright I'm back for round two of this story. I hope you all have enjoyed it so far! Let me know what you think. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 2

The Awakening Potion

Hermione woke up well rested after the horrific dinner of the night before. It was just approaching dawn and although she usually didn't wake up this early Professor Snape wanted to get an early start to the day. The students would arrive around five and he wanted to have her duties and research laid out for the school year before they arrived.

After she finished getting ready, looking the best that she could this early in the morning, and grabbing a bite to eat Hermione headed towards Snape's private potion's lab. This is where they would be performing their research together all semester so she was anxious to get her first look.

She knocked on the door and waited for him to allow her entrance before the door swung wide open. Severus was already stooped over a potion stirring it very carefully and didn't so much as give her a glance back as she entered. Hermione knew not to interrupt him right then so simply stood next to the door until he was finished.

"_Stasis"_ Severus said as he waved his wand over the cauldron. The bubbles that were once boiling were frozen in place and the cauldron was moved to a shelf along the wall.

"Glad to see you made it here on time, Miss Granger," Severus said sarcastically while finally turning towards her.

Hermione didn't dignify his nasty comment with a retort but simply nodded her head to acknowledge that she heard him.

"As you can see this is my private potion's lab and this is where we will be brewing all of our potions this year. On the shelves on the right side of the wall are all the cauldrons that are in Stasis. I haven't abandoned them; there is just some tweaking left to do. On the rows of shelves around the rest of the room are all the ingredients in alphabetical order. It will be your job to make sure they remain stocked- I will not be happy if I have to remind you. Finally the counter-space along the wall directly in front of you is, obviously, for brewing only. I don't want to see anything else going on there. Am I going too fast for you?" Severus said carelessly.

"No, sir," Hermione responded while furiously writing down every word in a notebook.

"The most important part of this room by far is the shelf right above the counter-space. As you can see it is lined with a number of journals. Each of these contains my own personal research on all the potions I have developed. It is imperative that you record everything that happens in this room in the specified journal. When I go to get published and eventually to market the new potion I want to know everything about the potion and how it was created. Do you understand?" Severus said while caressing the spines of each of the journals as he passed his hand across the shelf.

"Yes, sir. Record everything I do," Hermione responded mechanically.

"Good. Now let's head into my office to outline your duties and my current research," Severus said as he walked through the door immediately to his left and into the office.

Hermione followed right behind him and took a seat on the opposite side of his desk. She was thrilled to be learning about what she was going to be working on. Hopefully it will be something interesting!

Severus clasped his hands together before he began to speak.

"First of all let's go over your duties. You are expected to maintain the cleanliness of the private lab, maintain its stocks, note-take, and in some circumstances you will have to grade students' essays. This won't be very often for I like to monitor their progress personally, but when the critical steps of the potion I am developing get in the way you will have to step in and grade the work. You will also have to take over the responsibilities of brewing whatever Poppy needs for her stores in the Hospital Wing. You are competent enough to do this or clearly I wouldn't have chosen you as my apprentice," Severus said as he ticked off the list of things for her to do," I believe that just about covers your menial tasks. Undoubtedly you have questions before we continue?" Severus asked her clearly very annoyed.

"Actually no, sir." Hermione said. She would ask questions later when he was in a better mood. She didn't want to annoy him her first day on the job.

"I have to say I am shocked. Never did I think the day would come that Hermione Granger would not have a question to be answered," Severus teased.

Hermione smiled. Did Snape just crack a joke? Maybe this apprenticeship would be fun after all.

"For the rest of our meeting we're going to have to go to the location where my research started. Gather your things and we'll make our way to the apparition site right outside the front gates," Severus said as he rose out of his chair.

Hermione followed him, one step behind him, as they both strode to their intended destination. They were already on the grounds outside the castle when Hermione's curiosity got the best of her.

"Where are we headed to, Professor?" Hermione questioned the man in front of her.

"In time, Miss Granger," Severus said as he suddenly stopped right outside the gates.

Hermione stopped right in front of him and wondered what he was going to do next. Then the most unexpected thing happened…he put his arms around her! Oh Merlin, was she in heaven? She fit perfectly against his chest and her head come up to rest just under his chin. She sighed as she leaned into him but only felt him stiffen in return.

"As inappropriate as this may seem, we will have to side-along-apparate because I don't want you to get lost and end up having to look for you for the rest of the day. Now hold on tight and try not to mess this up," Severus said as he gripped her a little tighter.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Leave it to him to mess up this perfect moment for her.

With a small 'pop' the two were gone.

* * *

Hermione fell even further into his chest as she stumbled a little when they finally completed their journey. Severus held her for a moment until she gathered herself and then quickly released her.

Hermione took this time to look at the sign on the building they had just landed in front of.

"Why are we at St. Mungo's, sir?" Hermione asked.

"Everything will be explained once we check in on our patients," Severus said as he ushered her inside the hospital after speaking with the dummy in the window to gain entrance.

After by-passing the rude Welcome Witch that Hermione had to deal with the last time she was here, they both got into the elevator and Severus hit Floor Number 4- Spell Damage.

Hermione now had an idea of which patients they would be checking up on.

The elevator dinged and Severus and Hermione exited it and made their way to the patients' room.

When they got there Hermione noticed that there was a man asleep in a chair with his back facing the open door. She knew who it was immediately.

"Neville!" Hermione screamed and frightened poor Neville to death.

Neville jumped out of his chair and had a confused look on his face after being abruptly woken from his slumber. Once he saw who had called his name a huge smile graced his face.

Hermione and Neville gave each other a huge hug in greeting and were about to proceed catching up before Severus interrupted.

"As much as I hate to break up this 'touching' moment, we need to get down to business so we can be back for the Welcoming Feast," Severus said to them.

Hermione cheeks flushed a little in embarrassment from her over-enthusiastic actions from the moment before. She uttered a little "Sorry," to try to redeem herself.

"Frank and Alice Longbottom were, as you know, tortured into insanity by use of the Cruciatus Curse in the first war against Lord Voldemort. The goal of my current research is to develop a potion that will bring them back into lucidity. The name of this potion will be called the Awakening Potion. I'm just having problems determining the actual components that the potion will need. This is where you come in. Since you are the 'brightest-witch-of-your-age' I don't believe this should be a problem for you. You will have to perform extensive research so we can continue developing the potion. We will be monitoring the progress of the potion through weekly administrations to our two patients. Hopefully, by the end of the school year we will have found a cure," Severus said mostly to Hermione even though he knew that Neville was listening in.

"That's wonderful, sir! I am honored to be a part of such a brilliant endeavor," Hermione said enthusiastically before looking at Neville.

"Thank you two so much. Words can't express what this would mean to me and my family. If there is any way I can help? Please don't hesitate to ask. I have given the nurses' station permission to allow both of you to visit at any time," Neville said with tears in his eyes to both Hermione and Severus.

"We are glad to help, Mr. Longbottom," Severus said sincerely.

This shocked Hermione as well. Since when was Snape ever nice to Neville? Maybe she had underestimated his character. This just turned her on to him even more. She blushed at the thoughts that she was having.

Severus noticed the blush and merely arched his eyebrow in her direction making her feel even more ashamed.

"Thank you for your time, but we should be off now. We will return next week some time once we have more to test your parents with," Severus said as he nodded at Neville and turned to make his way out the door.

"Good Bye, Neville," Hermione said with a quick hug as she left the room to chase after Severus.

Once they were back outside St. Mungo's Severus once again took Hermione in his arms and with one last 'pop' vanished.

* * *

Once Severus and Hermione were safely back inside the foyer of Hogwart's they each went their own separate ways to prepare for the Welcoming Feast.

Hermione wanted to re-familiarize herself with the castle before it was milling with hundreds of students once again. Just as she was passing Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and reminiscing about the schemes that her, Harry, and Ron used to formulate, she noticed a man approaching her.

With the unmistakable swagger and bleach blonder hair of the stranger a few meters in front of her, she knew exactly who it was- Lucius Malfoy. She quickly turned to begin to head in the opposite direction of the man, when all of a sudden she felt a large hand tightly gripping her right shoulder. He spun her around so she was now slammed up against the cold, stone wall.

Lucius had a menacing look in his eyes which disappeared with a blink of an eye. His harsh grip turned into a gentle caress that moved up and down her small arm. He was now looking at her like a lover more than a hated enemy.

"Miss Granger, my actions yesterday were uncalled for but I just couldn't help myself. With your beauty and celebrity status in the magical world who could? "Lucius asked as he used one finger to run down her neck and across her shoulder slowly.

Hermione refused to answer. Anger was pulsing through her and all she wanted to do was run, but fear froze her. She settled with just jerking her shoulder away from his disgusting finger.

"Feisty one aren't you?" Lucius said viciously as he once again gripped her upper arm as roughly as he could and gave her one quick shake.

He then got very close to her face. Almost close enough for their lips to touch. Hermione was struggling as much as she could against his grip but was powerless against him. Angry tears began flowing down her cheeks as his lips came even closer to hers. She didn't want to be anywhere near this man and she couldn't escape!

"Let me go!" Hermione screamed into his face loudly. Just then she heard the heavenly voice of her saving grace.

"Lucius…Miss Granger…am I interrupting something?" Severus said dangerously while staring directly at Lucius.

Lucius stared back at Severus and pushed Hermione hard up against the wall one last time before he let go of her arm and backed away.

"Not anymore, Severus. Good evening, Miss Granger," Lucuis said furiously to the two of them and quickly continued his way into the darkness of the hallway until he was out of sight.

* * *

A/N:

How will Severus treat Hermione after such a crazy incident? I guess you will just have to wait to see hehehehe.

Thanks to all my reviewers! Emily_aten, glow91, Sirius star holder, tinkerbell, and bharned1. MELORA STOP SPAMMING ON MY WALL!

Leave some love for me! I've been feeling inspired lately…I already have the next chapter written and I'll just be waiting on some reviews to put it up.

Let me know what you guys think. Is the story good? Should I still continue?


	3. Research and Rejections

Onto the next! I'm loving my readers and reviewers right now so here's another update! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 3

Research and Rejections

As soon as Lucius was out of sight Hermione slid down the stony wall and ended up sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. She was fighting back angry tears but a few still slipped down her beautiful cheeks. She didn't want to let Severus see that she was crying so she tilted her head towards the ground and allowed her curly chestnut hair to fall around her face in a curtain.

Severus continued to glare at the back of the retreating man until he was out of sight. What had Lucius been thinking? What was he trying to do with his Apprentice? He noticed Hermione slide down the wall and remain there almost unmoving. He crouched down next to her and saw her tears even through the curtain of hair that was in his way.

"Did he hurt you, Miss Granger?" Severus said as he mentally checked the woman over for any injuries.

Hermione didn't trust her voice so she simply shook her head. Except for a nasty bruise on her shoulder he hadn't really hurt her. She didn't want to seem weak in front of Severus.

Severus noticed the swelling and bruising that started to form on her shoulder from Lucius's tight grip.

"Do you need to be taken to the infirmary?" Severus asked a little impatiently now.

Once again Hermione shook her head in response.

"Good. Now let's get you off the floor so we can head to the Great Hall for the students to arrive," Severus said stonily as he watched Hermione drag herself up off the floor

He handed her his black handkerchief for her tears before he stormed off down the corridor presumably towards the Great Hall.

Hermione shed a few more tears at his indifference to her condition after she gathered herself up off of the floor. She then dabbed her eyes dry with the black, silky piece of fabric that Severus had given her. As she held it up to her nose she noticed that it smelled exactly like he did- sandalwood and potions. What a lovely aroma! She huffed in the scent once more before placing it in her pocket and eventually made her way to the Great Hall by herself.

* * *

Hermione took her now customary seat next to Severus once she finally got to the Great Hall. He only looked at her once with an arched eyebrow to acknowledge that she was even in the same room as him. She sighed a little at the fact that he still didn't care about her presence.

Right then Lucius entered the Great Hall through the staff entrance immediately to Hermione's left. She subconsciously held her breath and tried not to make eye contact with him by looking down at her hands on the table.

Severus on the other hand glared at the man as he sauntered across the length of the table. He made it known that Lucius was not welcome at this side of the table just through the terrifying look he was spewing at the blonde aristocrat. Lucius responded back mockingly with a quick raised eyebrow before continuing on his way to the opposite side of the long wooden table.

Hermione let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding after Lucius had passed by. The man was pure evil and for some god-forsaken reason he was after her. He had really frightened her today and she wanted him to leave her alone before the situation escalated.

Hermione was brought out of her thoughts and the Great Hall silenced when the doors boomed open to reveal Professor Flitwick leading a group of young children down the main aisle of the room. Their eyes were all gazing around in awe just as every other first year's do when they enter the magical room for the first time. Once the group approached the edge of the staff table and were overlooking the rest of the students Professor Flitwick began the sorting of the first years.

After yet another eerie message from the Sorting Hat the newest additions to the Hogwart's family were sorted into the four different houses.

"Adams, Veronica" was sorted into Hufflepuff first followed by about fifty more names until finally the last student was called off- "Zingerman, Allen" who was sorted into Slytherin.

Severus clapped slightly for this young boy as he sauntered over to the most wicked table in Hogwart's history.

Finally the sorting was over and everyone couldn't wait to begin the feast. Hungry stomachs were rumbling and mouths were salivating but Professor McGonagall still had to give her annual speech on interhouse unties and rule-breaking.

After a warm welcome and an introduction to the new professors, Hermione included, she let them finally dig into some food. The Great Hall was silent with only the sounds of eating and silverware clinking to interfere.

Hermione actually ate herself full as she had not gotten to eat much since she had been her…not that it was all her fault mind you. She risked a glance to Severus next to her and found him looking at her. She imitated him by arching an eyebrow in response.

"Miss Granger, I suggest that immediately after the students are dismissed from this meal that we head down to my office to discuss further options for the Awakening Potion. That is if you have time of course?" Severus questioned her.

"Of course! That sounds great. I have a million different ideas and it'll be great to begin collaborating together," Hermione said almost too eagerly.

Severus gave a little chuckle at her enthusiasm before resuming eating his own meal.

Hermione blushed scarlet after hearing his laugh- especially since it was at her own expense.

Once the noise picked up in the Great Hall, Professor McGonagall vanished the remaining food and dishes and asked the prefects to take the rest of the students to their dorms for the night.

Finally Hermione and Severus made their way through the dark hallways and eventually into the comfort of Severus's office.

* * *

Hermione was skimming Severus's notes in the journal labeled 'The Awakening Potion' with her brow furrowed in deep concentration. Severus was clearly having much trouble with the components of this difficult potion. Everything he had tried thus far had yet to work. When he would fix one part of the potion another part would go wrong. What a mess!

Severus watched Hermione as she read. He thought the way she bit her lip as she was thinking was quite endearing yet quite annoying because it made him soften towards her. He cleared his throat once to get her attention.

"Well, what do you think?" Severus asked Hermione timidly.

"I think it's brilliant! Although it obviously isn't perfect and it needs a lot of work, it actually gives me some hope that it can be done," Hermione replied ethusiastically back.

"Yes, yes it's great and all that but it's just so frustrating. I can't seem to get the components right. Just when everything should go right it just doesn't. I'm lucky I haven't killed the Longbottoms yet with all the concoctions I have been force-feeding them," Severus said while frustratingly rubbing his brow.

"You wouldn't have let yourself kill them, sir. From what I can tell it looks like every new component you add cancels one other important one out. For instance, when you added the graphorn which was supposed to fuse the cells of the insular cortex to reinstate consciousness it reacted with the cut ginger roots which were supposed to sharpen wit, which eventually made the Longbottoms get the hiccups because the two were mixed together rather than curing the components they should have had. It wasn't a rather obvious mistake and anyone would've made it which makes this particular potion very frustrating indeed," Hermione explained to her mentor.

Severus was quite proud of Hermione's answer. It was clear that she knew what she was talking about and her answer wasn't straight from his journal like it would've been ten years ago.

"You are absolutely correct. Although I have solved those two problems and replaced the cut ginger roots with minced ginger roots so the two components wouldn't react together, there are a few very similar and serious problems that need to be solved. For the life of me I can't figure out what to use for them to wake from the deep slumber that their minds are in. It seems as if their bodies are awake but their minds are fast asleep as yours or mine would be when we sleep at night. I tried mixing in an innervation potion which was quite stupid of me for it simply exploded my cauldron and caused a huge mess of my labs. I just need something that will awaken the subcoeruleus nucleus of the brain but not interact violently with anything else. And I hate to say it but I'm completely baffled and I was hoping that you could help," Severus said passionately before blurting out the last sentence even though he didn't mean to do so.

Hermione couldn't believe how open Severus was with her when they were discussing the potion. He had not been this honest with her ever and she was glad that he finally was acknowledging her as some-what of his equal. It made her heart leap in her chest.

"Something that will awaken the subcoeruleus nucleus…."Hermione said aloud as she thought very hard. Her brow was scrunched very close together and she bit her lip earnestly.

Gods how Severus loved when she was concentrating.

'I'll have to have these debates with her more often' Severus thought to himself. Then he cursed himself for even having the ridiculous thought before focusing his attention back on the adorable lip-biting woman in front of him.

"I got it! What if we added the potion in two different stages? First we could add the potion that you have developed so far and then make a completely new one for the drinker to take second that would hold the otherwise unmixable components that the entire potion couldn't have together. This way the components won't react together because the potion will already be ingested before the rest of the reactive components are even taken into the body. It's like drinking water and then drinking oil afterwards because the two entities wouldn't mix together outside the body but inside they really have no choise. We just have to work on the second half of the Awakening Potion to make it a whole cure," Hermione exclaimed excitedly as she jumped up out of her chair.

Severus thought it over for a minute. Her idea seemed very sound to him. He couldn't believe that this girl had come up with the answer so easily…even though it was Hermione Granger he was talking about.

"That is a brilliant idea, Hermione," Severus said with a big grin on his face.

Hermione froze in shock. Not only had Severus actually smiled but he had also used her given name rather then Miss Granger as he customarily used.

"Is something wrong?" Severus asked her feigning innocence.

"You…you used my first name is all…" Hermione managed to stammer out.

"Well you have just solved the biggest problem I have been having for the past two months in less then twenty minutes. I feel this deems you worthy to be my intellectual equal, therefore I will use your first name and you may use mine," Severus said in an almost teacher-like fashion.

"I'm honored, sir. I mean…Severus. This really means the world to me," Hermione said as she rounded around his desk to stand in front of him.

Severus then stood out of his chair to face the young woman. Although he towered over her, he was close enough to feel her heart beating in her chest. He then reached down to grasp her hand in a congratulatory handshake. But he made the mistake of looking deep into her eyes.

Hermione's eyes locked with his, her breathing slowed as her face began to move ever so closer to his. She licked her lips in anticipation of meeting his and she moved her hand that wasn't locked in a handshake onto his other shoulder.

"Hermione…." Severus whispered as his lips approached her.

Just as their lips were about to touch each other's for the first time Severus backed away quickly and walked to the other side of the office to get away from her.

Gods did he want the woman now but he couldn't. It wouldn't be right. She was his apprentice and he wasn't about to take advantage of his power over her just for his own lust. He risked one last glance at Hermione and notice that she seemed hurt by what he had done.

"I think you should go now," Severus said quietly.

Hermione nodded her head sadly in response and made her way out of his office.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the long update, I'm back at work just this week.

Thanks to all my reviewers! Especially emilyaten, slytherin-lycan, Heidi191976, glow91, lovingmydoctor, JC 1988, and unimaginative lot. Thanks!

Reviews make me sooo happy! Please make me happy :)


	4. Girl Talk

Sorry for the wait! I'm back at school taking more classes so I don't know how much time I'll have…I guess it depends on how much I want to procrastinate on my studying :)

Any who…Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 4

Girl Talk

Hermione thought about her 'almost-kiss' with Severus for the next few days. She kept replaying the incident in her head over and over as if it were a broken record. She tried to dissect each moment of it and decide when the moment went sour. Was she unattractive to him? She wasn't the prettiest witch out there she knew but she wasn't the ugliest by any means either! Had she said or done something wrong? Did she try to push him too far too fast? Merlin! These thoughts were driving her mad! She couldn't concentrate on her work and any time she had to herself it was all she thought about. There was only one way to solve this problem- girl talk with her best friend, Ginny Potter.

Hermione set up a time later the next Saturday to discuss exactly what happened. They decided to meet at the Potter's home so Hermione could get away from Hogwart's and Severus for awhile. After informing Minerva about her temporary leave from the castle she flooed to see Ginny.

As Hermione arrived through the fireplace and was dusting the soot off of her robes she knew she had gotten there in the midst of a small amount of chaos.

"Albus Severus! You apologize to your sister right now! How many times do I have to tell you not to test Uncle Fred and Uncle George's new products on Lily?" Ginny Potter was yelling at her eldest son. She was red-in-the-face with anger at her children.

"But Mum! She was the one that stole the toy broom that Dad gave me and broke it. I think she deserves to have purple hair for awhile," Albus said as he stuck out his tongue at Lily.

Lily then began to wail and cry as she went to try to punch Albus with her very small fist. The normally loving siblings were clearly having a bad day.

"No buts, Albus! Apologize right now and then both of you can head to your rooms to think about what you have done until your father gets home. And I can assure you that he's not going to be happy with either of you," Ginny said to both of her children.

"Sorry, Lily," Albus sighed.

"Sorry, Albus," Lily whimpered back.

Then both children headed to their separate rooms before their mother became even more upset with them. They knew they would be in enough trouble when their father got home after all.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I just don't know what's gotten into them lately. All they seem to do is fight and it's exhausting! Harry's just going to have to deal with them this time. When he's gone on a mission with the Aurors it's madness around here," Ginny said as she embraced her best friend before offering her a seat at the kitchen table.

"Don't worry about it, Ginny. They're just getting older. I can't believe that Albus is going to be starting at Hogwart's in a few years already!" Hermione responded back as she sat down across from Ginny.

"I know! Time sure does fly. Soon I'm sure you and Snape will be corralling your own little ones," Ginny said as she patted Hermione's hand.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Hermione sighed back.

"Oh no, what happened? I thought this apprenticeship would bring you two together finally! Everyone can clearly see that you were meant to be together…except for maybe Snape," Ginny responded exasperated.

"I thought so too. Everything was going so great. Our research was moving along fabulously and he even asked to use my given name. But the next moment shattered it all. We were standing eye to eye and I thought he was going to kiss me but then he pulled away and asked me to leave. What went wrong?" Hermione questioned her friend trying to seek the perspective from another female.

"Oh, Hermione. I'm so sorry!" Ginny said while trying to comfort the distraught woman.

"I just don't understand it. The man is so frustrating! One minute I think he finally notices that I exist and in a blink of the eye he's back to his usual indifference towards me. Why can't he make up his mind?" Hermione said very frustrated.

"Maybe he is overwhelmed with his feelings? I know when I first met Harry he was always flustered around me and I always believed that he just thought of me as Ron's annoying little sister. But we ended up together didn't we? Just give it time. He'll come around," Ginny said.

"I'm not so sure about that, Ginny, but thanks for the support. I knew I couldn't talk to Ron or Harry about this, they would be horrified if they knew about me and Severus," Hermione said.

"That's for sure. Those boys are so thick-headed some times. Speaking of which they have been asking about you. We should all get together one night and catch up," Ginny responded back.

"I'm really busy right now. I could barely even get away from the school to see you right now. During Christmas holiday we should definitely get together. I'll plan it with the boys. It should be fun," Hermione said as she began to rise out of her chair. She had checked her watch and realized how much time had passed- she had to get back to Hogwart's.

"Sorry for the quick departure, Ginny. I have to head back to the castle-duty calls. Send the boys my love!" Hermione exclaimed as she gave her friend a quick hug and made her way back to Hogwart's via floo.

* * *

Lucius Malfoy was alone in his office and had just finished grading the last of his students' essays just as the sun was setting on Saturday night. As always the essays were absolutely abysmal and he wished the students would put at least a little more effort into their work. Next time he would have to remember to threaten them a little more to get them to work harder.

He leaned back in his chair with a smirk pasted across his face while he thought about the punishments he would hand out to those that couldn't perform up to par on their next essay. That should teach them.

As his mind began to wander across various ideas of different torturous techniques he could employ, it settled on the picture of the lovely Hermione Granger.

"Yes, she is quite lovely isn't she?" Lucius questioned aloud to no one in particular.

Too bad she had crossed his path. During the war the bloody little chit had him sent to Azkaban after capturing him as soon as the Dark Lord fell that fateful night. Although his status and fortune had eventually allowed him his freedom after a mere two months in prison he wouldn't forget her part. It had cost him quite a lot of money to be released along with a new found bad reputation among the community.

Hermione had testified against him and the rest of the Death Eaters with her two little cronies, Potter and Weasley, effectively sending most of his close friends to their death by the Dementors' Kiss or a life sentence in Azkaban.

The Order had gotten what they wanted all along and they were left to celebrate while Lucius plotted his revenge. They would have to pay for what they had done to him, his friends, and family.

It had taken him a few weeks to eventually settle on who he would strike. Many different targets crossed his mind ranging from Minerva, a Weasley, or even bloody Potter himself. But then an even more brilliant idea struck him. He decided that Hermione Granger would by far be the easiest target as well as the most destructive. By torturing and eventually killing her every member of the Order of the Phoenix would be absolutely devastated. Potter and Weasley would be forlorn without their most brilliant friend and would be crushed with grief. He would eventually get his revenge! And my oh my would it be sweet!

"Her beautiful body will be mine soon. As long as I can keep Severus out of this, her capture and torture should go along right on schedule," Lucius said to himself once again as he began laughing a most malicious laugh," Yes, it will be sweet…very, very sweet."

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry it was kind of a short chapter, but I thought I would give you guys a little treat.**

**Let me know what you think? Lucius is quite the evil bastard isn't he?**

**Thanks to my amazing reviewers from last chapter: Unimaginative Lot, lk-howarts-headgirl, Heidi191976, and of course emilyaten. Thanks!**


	5. Explosions and Fireworks

Sorry that last chapter was so short…and slightly awful. Maybe I'll have to re-do it or something. Alright let's get back to the story! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 5

Explosions and Fireworks

Fall quickly turned into winter and Hermione still hadn't captured the man of her heart. Ever since that stupid 'almost-kiss' Severus had been incredibly awkward towards her. He never came within a foot of her and their once lengthy and intelligent conversations had dwindled down into just a couple word quips. And the worst part was that it was absolutely affecting their work together. They hadn't even been able to make a successful half of the Awakening Potion since their break-through conversation over two months ago. Hermione was frustrated. Severus was even more frustrated. Something was going to have to drastically change in order for their partnership to work.

Lucius on the other hand was being just as big of a pompous ass as always. He had cornered Hermione inthe corridors and felt her up on more then one occasion in the last couple of months. She was frightened by his actions but she certainly wasn't about to let him know that. She knew he was definitely up to no good and was unsuccessfully trying to avoid him at all costs. Her life was not going the way she planned.

"BOOM!"

As yet another cauldron exploded in her face and covered her with the unknown goo that had once been the potion she was working on diligently for over three hours, Hermione yelled in aggravation and pain. The potion had burned her hands pretty badly when it exploded all over them. The blisters were already beginning to form as Hermione sat defeated on a stool in front of the work-bench. As if the situation wasn't bad enough already, she could hear the usually quiet feet of Severus quickly approaching the private labs.

'Great, he's going to be really happy about this alright,' Hermione thought to herself. She huffed out a long sigh and prepared for his undoubtedly angry presence.

After hearing the deafening 'boom' coming from his private labs, Severus dismissed the class he was with and billowed his way towards the offending room.

'I just hope the blasted woman is alright,' Severus thought to himself immediately before he opened the door to the labs.

As he barged into the room he took in the sight before him. Potion matter was exploded all over his walls and floor. It looked as if the work-bench was going to need to be replaced once again as the woman had blasted her cauldron straight through the counter-top. Sighing, he then sought out Hermione and found her sitting hunched over on a stool. She was clutching her hands tightly, but otherwise she seemed to be in fine condition.

"Hermione, would you care to explain what has happened here? How could you have exploded yet another cauldron? I believe the goal here is to brew a successful potion, not blast my labs to smithereens," Severus said impatiently as he approached her.

"I'm sorry. I just pushed the potion farther then it was able to go. I thought if I added the last ingredient right before it boiled the Awakening Potion would've finally been successful. I forgot to take into account the super-boiling that was going on under the surface of the potion as I didn't want to disrupt the composition of it with a boiling stick," Hermione tried to explain. Her hands were beginning to throb and she just wished he would leave so she could head to the Hospital Wing some time soon.

"A likely mistake, Hermione. Do try to be more careful next time. I'm going to run out of cauldrons soon if you keep this up," Severus said with a sigh. He could see the girl was upset and he figured that was punishment enough.

Severus then walked up to Hermione put out his two very large hands and glared down at her, "Now let me take a look at those hands if you will?"

Hermione really didn't want to involve him in her injury but alas she didn't think she had any other choice. She placed her small, but very blistered and red, hands into his large ones. As he bent down closer and carefully turned her hands in his to examine the damage that the potion had done, Hermione blushed scarlet thinking about how large his hands were. They were hard and calloused from years of perfect potion making but they were her idea of the way a man's hands should be. This deepened her blush further.

Severus carefully placed her hands onto her lap before leaving her side and examining his shelves for a few potions.

He returned with a couple bottles and a small metal bowl in his hands. Rough hands then wrapped around her shoulders and escorted her over to a smaller table in the corner of the room so he would have a stable environment to work in.

"I insist that you drink this Pain-Relieving Potion as you clearly are in a considerable amount of pain. If I could have your hands one more time?" Severus asked calmly of her.

Hermione nodded her head in response and carefully placed her hands back into his. He gently massaged the burn salve onto her sensitive skin. She gasped in pain as the salve burned a bit but more so because he was finally touching her intimately. It felt so right.

Severus stopped his movements when he heard her gasp, "Are you alright? I didn't mean to hurt you. I could get Poppy to do this if you wish…"

"No, it's quite alright. Please continue," Hermione said huskily. His hands were heavenly after all. She never wanted him to stop.

Severus continued his ministrations until all of the salve was absorbed into her tiny hands. Luckily the blistering was already beginning to subside. He proceeded in dipping her hands into the bowl filled with Murtlap Essence, "Now you'll just have to soak your hands for about 20 minutes and you'll be good as new."

"Thank you, Severus. You didn't have to do this," Hermione sighed back as the cooling sensation of the essence flushed over her throbbing hands.

"It was my pleasure, Hermione," Severus said as he curtly nodded at her.

Hermione blushed a little once again. She wished she wasn't so obviously infatuated with him…it was a bit embarrassing really. She knew he noticed because his eyes began to scan anywhere in the room but at her and he impatiently adjusted the collar of his dark robes.

After a few tense moments where neither of them uttered a word, Hermione decided to finally break the silence.

" Do you think we'll ever get this right? I mean I've tried everything I could think of…most of which has exploded rather unpleasantly. Sorry about your lab by the way," Hermione said as she looked over at him now sitting on the stool next to her.

Severus sighed before attempting to answer her question," You have little faith, Hermione. How very un-Gryffindor of you," he teased her in good fun.

Hermione smiled at this. This was the first time he had teased her in months. It felt good to be at this stage with him again.

"Don't worry about my lab…it's nothing I haven't destroyed before any ways. As for the potion I believe you were on the right track. I hadn't considered adding the last ingredient before the boiling commenced. I understand why you didn't use a boiling stick for fear of interference from the wood but I have a better idea. We would use a boiling stick made of pewter, like the cauldron, so we won't get super-boiling and add the ingredient before boiling that way," Severus said seriously," I think you stumbled on a great idea."

"That's brilliant! I can't believe I didn't think of that…I feel utterly foolish!" Hermione said excitedly as she pulled her hands out of the Murtlap Essence and clapped them together foolishly in her excitement," Owwww!"

Severus shot up off of his stool when her heard the girl cry out he took her hands in his once again to determine the damage she had done," Careful, Hermione. You should probably give these hands a rest for the night."

"But I need to finish the potion, Severus. I promise I'll be more careful with my hands," Hermione pleaded to her instructor.

"I'm perfectly capable of finishing the potion. Good thing it's the weekend tomorrow for we can go test the potion on the Longbottom's tomorrow morning. Meet me here and we will leave together," Severus said as he dropped her hands and opened the door for her to exit the lab.

"Well if you insist, I guess I'll leave. See you tomorrow, Severus," Hermione said disappointedly as she exited the room.

"I do. Good-night, Hermione," Severus whispered so quietly that she barely heard it on her way out.

* * *

After a successful night of brewing on Severus's part and an early morning wake-up call for the both of them, Hermione and Severus made their way to their apparation spot outside of Hogwart's gates. Severus had the sample of the potion along with the appropriate journal safely tucked into the pocket of his long coat with an anti-shatter charm placed on the bottle.

The journey to the gates was not as awkward as it had been in the past. It seems as if the incident of the night before had finally broken the two of their humiliation from past events. Once they arrived right past the gates at their intended destination they both stopped and stared at each other. Then the most unexpected thing happened.

Severus put his arms around Hermione's shoulders and held onto her tight.

Hermione was dumbfounded for a second before she finally got a grip on herself and put her arms tightly around his waist in anticipation of apparation.

And with a quick 'pop' they vanished into thin air.

* * *

As soon as they landed outside St. Mungo's Severus immediately let go of her and headed into the hospital.

Hermione on the other hand stood outside for a moment to figure out what had just happened. Severus had willingly apparated with her. But why? She had known exactly where they were going and was more then capable of apparating by herself. And Severus had made it quite clear through his past actions that he wanted nothing to do with her. So why did he take her into his arms as if it was the most natural thing to do? She was utterly confused now. Merlin help her!

Once she caught up with Severus, he pretended like nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred between the two of them. This slightly irritated her because she wanted to finally get to the bottom of the confusing signals that he was sending her way. She tried to put this thought to the back of her mind as she prepared herself for yet another trial on the Longbottom's.

Thankfully Neville couldn't be here for the administration of the potion. Hermione thought that he was scared away by past trials and what they had done to his parents so far. From unstoppable hiccups to being covered in pussypurple pustules, the elder Longbottom's had seen it all-and Neville had been there to witness it all. Maybe it was good that he was taking a break from it all.

After administering the potion Severus and Hermione waited to see what-if anything- would happen. They stood there for a few minutes and nothing happened.

Hermione looked at Severus and smiled excitedly. Usually by now some adverse reaction would've taken place. It's possible that they finally solved the problem! Severus looked back down at her once he realized what had happened and smiled right back. Hermione had never seen the man smile before but she was glad that she at least got to witness it this one time for it was a beautiful thing indeed.

But every good thing must come to an end. As Hermione looked back at the beds of the Longbottom's she realized that both of them had excessive amounts of hair growing out of their ears but were no closer to being lucid then they have in almost thirty years.

"Damn it!" Severus yelled at he turned over a small table next to him. He then ran his hands harshly through his hair before calling the mediwitch and storming back outside the hospital.

Hermione apologized to the nurses for Severus's mess as she ran after him. Once outside she found him pacing in the alleyway and swearing silently to himself. Clearly he was aggravated beyond belief.

"That was a little unnecessary, you know. Throwing that table like that," Hermione said as she walked confidently up to him.

"Stay out of it, Hermione. For once in your life just mind your own damn business," Severus cruelly yelled at her.

Hermione then boldly grabbed his shoulder to turn him to face her," This _is _my damn business, Severus! I know you're frustrated, trust me, so am I. But we can't get discouraged…we can't give up on them," she yelled at him passionately, "We…,"

And then Severus shut her up the only way he knew how that was still some-what appropriate. He pulled her into a tight embrace, tucked her head under his chin, and ran his hands comfortingly up and down her back.

"I know, Hermione. I know. Together we can do this. I have faith in us," Severus whispered into her hair.

Hermione had never been so happy.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So what did you think? I hope everything isn't moving too fast…let me know if you think so. Sorry about the dud that last chapter was. I re-read it for the millionth time and have decided that I hated it. I may or may not fix it…I'll keep you updated.**

**Thanks again to my fabulous reviewers from last chapter! Especially: Heidi191976, loyd1989, lk-hogwarts-headgirl, dragonflyryder, sweet-tang-honney, and of course the ever loyal emilyaten. Thanks!**


	6. Creepers in the Night

You guys sure are keeping me very motivated with this story. I hope you like this next chapter! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 6

Creepers in the Night

After parting ways with Hermione for the rest of the weekend, Severus headed down to his personal chambers to unwind after a stressful day at St. Mungo's. He threw himself down onto the big comfy couch in his living room to think about what had just happened.

"How could I do something so blatant?" Severus asked angrily aloud to himself as no one else was in the room.

He sighed once more before going through the events of the last few hours. First he apparated with her in his arms all the way to the hospital. Merlin, how obvious could he be? He had just wanted to have an excuse to hold her in his arms again. Of course he realized that Hermione was perfectly able to apparate herself which would have been the customary thing to do. She had definitely figured out his motives, for this he was certain. It didn't help that he emotionally embraced her in that bloody alleyway either.

Severus scrunched his eyes closed in horror," Damn it! I most certainly made a complete arse out of myself. I wouldn't be surprised if I completely frightened her away," he yelled once more to his invisible audience.

He then abruptly got up off the chair and began to pace back and forth across the room. He couldn't sit still with the thought that he had driven the woman away. After his third pace across the room he suddenly stopped and realization washed over him.

"I bloody like the girl," Severus murmured to himself.

He had indeed noticed that she had grown into a beautiful woman, much unlike that of the small girl he used to know. She was curvier, but in all the right places, and her intelligence had surpassed that of even him he acknowledged. She was no longer annoying but had a certain confidence about her. She was perfect. She was his ideal woman. Except for the fact that he was her instructor once again and she was half his age.

"Damn," Severus said.

Certainly she wouldn't want to be with a man that could easily be her father…would she? But even if that's what she thought she wanted in a man, he definitely couldn't be with her. No. She deserved a man that is young enough to keep up with her and eventually their children. He was already feeling the aches and pains of old age and Merlin knows how long he even had left to live.

He sighed once again as his mind raced to wrap around what he was thinking.

But most of all, she most certainly doesn't deserve to be subjected to his bad temper and grouchiness day in and day out. She was so wonderful and easy-going and he wasn't about to bring her down with him. She deserved a handsome pleasant young man to spend the rest of her life with. That definitely wasn't him.

Severus planted himself back onto the couch once more. He ran his hands through his silky black hair as he met the conclusion that he knew was inevitable.

As much as he absolutely adored the woman, he could never be with her.

It wouldn't be fair to her. She deserved all the happiness in the world and he couldn't give that to her. She needed to be with someone who could.

In that moment he vowed to not let his feelings for Hermione known. He was most definitely destined to live a lonely life after all.

* * *

Hermione was floating on cloud nine after her day spent with Severus. He had finally shown some sort of affection towards her. She had waited years upon years for this moment and nothing could bring her down off her high.

She ran through the halls as quickly as she could so she could pen Ginny a note on the exciting happenings of the day. Apparently she was running just a tad too quickly because before she knew it she had run into someone and found herself sitting on the cold floor. Before she could even gather her surroundings there was a large hand being offered to help her up off the ground. She couldn't see the face of the stranger as the hallway was dark and the shadows enveloped everything but the offending hand. Assuming it was Severus she reached and grabbed it and was pulled up off the ground.

As soon as she touched the cold hand she knew it wasn't Severus's. While Severus's hand was warm and slightly calloused, this hand was smooth and pampered. She gulped in fright.

Her body was pulled up against the chest of the man she had run into. As her face became closer to his she figured out who the stranger was: Lucius Malfoy- the man she had been trying to avoid.

As he pulled her hand even further up in the air and eventually to his lips and unleashed a soft kiss on the back of it he whispered," You should be more careful, Miss Granger. You could get…hurt…running that fast."

Hermione tried to wrench her hand from his but was unable to do so. His grip on hers was tight and he was not about to relinquish it any time soon.

"What do you want, Lucius?" Hermione whispered fiercely back.

"Now, now, there's no need to be so brash my dear Hermione," Lucius said sweetly back.

Hermione tried to tug her hand once more even though she knew it was hopeless, "That's Miss Granger to you."

"My apologies, Miss Granger. I did not mean to offend you," He whispered as he once again drew his hand up and down the arm he had grasped in his hand, caressing it not so gingerly.

Hermione shuddered in revulsion as Lucius was groping her once again. Why couldn't this man just leave her the hell alone? Hermione was absolutely fuming now.

"Would you like to know what I think?" Lucius asked of Hermione.

"Not really, but I'm sure you're going to tell me any way," Hermione responded infuriated.

Lucius gave a little malicious chuckle and another stroke down her arm before he continued, "I think you need to get out of this castle. We should spend this evening together in Hogsmeade. Just you and me."

Lucius thought this would be the perfect way to attack Hermione, off of Hogwart's grounds and away from any prying eyes or reliable witnesses.

"I wouldn't go with you anywhere alone if you were the last man on earth!" Hermione said harshly and she tugged her arm again.

"That's a shame. You're beautiful. And I'm beautiful. We would most certainly be the most attractive couple there. But I suppose we could always stay in the castle," Lucius said more then a little pissed off.

Lucius then tried to slide his hands underneath her robes to grope her thighs and under her shirt. Hermione battled him back and unsuccessfully tried to swat his hand away.

"If you settle down, I promise that this will be much more pleasant for the both of us," Lucius laughed as he began to unbutton the top button of her robes.

Hermione had just enough time to draw her wand out of her robes before he became even rougher and threw her against the wall.

"Reducio!" Hermione yelled and aimed it right at his groin.

Lucius dropped to his knees in pain that was exuding from his family jewels. He was groaning loudly as Hermione ran as fast as she could away from the man and back to the safety of her private rooms.

"You will pay for this, mudblood. For that you can be certain," Lucius managed to stutter out once the girl was out of sight.

* * *

Once Lucius managed to 're-enlarge' himself and gracefully walk back to his rooms he decided to continue with his attack plan even though the last stage hadn't gone as smooth as he would've liked.

He had realized in the past months that Severus had become quite protective of the little chit. He had more then once been threatened by Severus to stay away from Hermione. All he needed to do was to infuriate Severus a little more so when he finally completed his plan to torture the girl he would have yet another person devastated by his actions. This was turning out to be the sweetest revenge indeed.

He then walked over to his fireplace and threw some floo-powder into it and yelled "Severus Snape" before Snape's chambers came into view as he stuck his head into the fire.

Severus had been pondering his situation with Hermione when he heard someone calling his name from the fireplace. When he looked up he saw the ever-unwelcome face of Lucius peering back at him.

"Can I help you, Lucius?' Severus asked the face in the fire.

Severus had hated the man since his days as a fellow Death Eater. He was by far the most evil bastard on the planet and yet he was required to maintain friendly contact with him. Well…friendly for them at least. Sure he had threatened Lucius in the past, but that never seemed to come in the way of their 'friendship'. Severus tried to treat the man as politely as he could, but that wasn't always possible. He definitely hated the man to his very core but he knew he had to keep his enemies close. And Lucius Malfoy certainly fell under the category of enemy.

"I was just wondering if you would like to join me for a nightcap, Severus. I have to say that it has been much too long since I have enjoyed your company," Lucius said sickeningly sweet.

Severus snorted aloud at the idea of Lucius wanting to see him on pleasant terms, "I'm not sure that my company would be that enjoyable to you, Lucius."

"Of course it will be! Come on, don't be such a stick in the mud," Lucius responded back.

"Fine then. I shall be through in just a moment," Severus finally agreed.

Severus waited for Lucius to get his smug face out of the fire before he himself stepped through into the opposing man's living room. Both men took seats across from each other in front of the fireplace. Severus couldn't wait for this little meeting to be over.

"Elf! Get me and my guest here some of my finest brandy," Lucius yelled at the house-elf that was now cowering before him.

Severus didn't react to the way Lucius ordered around his house-elf…he had seen it done for years after all.

After a few minutes in silence and more then enough brandy for both parties, Severus decides to break the silence to get the conversation flowing and the meeting that much closer to an end.

"How is Draco? I hear that you are a proud new grandfather," Severus asked uninterested.

"He and Pansy are quite well. Young Brutus is doing fabulously; he looks life a Malfoy already. I am extremely proud as you can imagine," Lucius responded back.

Severus grunted back in return, not actually caring about what Lucius was saying at all.

"And dear Narcissa? She must be missing you terribly while you are away," Severus said snidely. He doubted very much that Narcissa was missing him at all. It was well known in the wizarding community that the both of them had a very open marriage. She was probably with another man as they speak.

"She is very well also. She begs me to return home; alas I have to remind her of my responsibilities to the school. I'm not even sure if I will make it home at all during the upcoming winter break," Lucius said as a hint.

"That is a shame. For I'm sure she would love to have you home for the holidays," Severus said to try to convince him to leave. He didn't want to have to deal with Lucius for the entire break as well…that would definitely be hellish.

Lucius then put down his sifter of brandy and looked seriously at Severus, "You know, Severus, isn't it about time you have a loving relationship like I have with Narcissa? A woman can brighten any day you know," Lucuis said not so innocently.

Severus once again snorted in laughter at what the mad man had said, "I don't think there is a woman out there that would want to spend any amount of time with me. No…my days are better spent alone in my lab."

Lucius chuckled at this, as if it were some sort of joke that Severus was supposed to be making.

"Surely you have noticed the beauty of a fellow member of the staff?" Lucius asked the man.

"I can't say that I have," Severus lied. He knew exactly who the man was talking about. He just hoped that Lucius would stay away from her.

Lucius laughed at his statement," Why the lovely Hermione Granger of course. She has filled out quite nicely since the Final Battle I have to say and she is quite the spitfire. Maybe Gryffindors are good for something after all," Lucius said smugly. There was no better way to rile up Severus then by mentioning Miss Granger.

"It seems that I haven't noticed her quite the way you have, Lucius. I'm not sure your lovely wife would appreciate your thoughts about her," Severus said while restraining from cursing him. He had to remain calm.

"She wouldn't care as much as you would think, I can promise you that. Lucky for Miss Granger, I suppose," Lucius said maliciously.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again, you would do well to leave her alone. She has too many powerful people looking after her welfare to get mixed up with her," Severus warned while miraculously still remaining calm.

Lucius just gave a small chuckle in response and took another sip from his brandy. This enraged Severus even more. Lucius wasn't even taking his threats seriously. He had to get out.

"It is getting late. I am going to have to take my leave now," Severus said as he suddenly got out of his chair and without so much as waiting for Lucius to respond immediately flooed back to his chamber.

Severus once again clamped his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead in frustration and anger. He was going to have to keep Lucius away from Hermione. He couldn't let that bastard hurt her. Nothing good ever came from one of Lucius's obsessions and he wasn't about to let Hermione become his next victim.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I know this is getting posted kind of late…but I think I had enough partying last night to have a night in with fanfiction to keep me company. Let me know what you think! Review Please!**

**Thanks to emilyaten, artemis virgin goddess, lk-hogwart's-headgirl, heidi191976, 1234back, sweet-tang-honney, oursickstory, and Unimaginative Lot for the awesome reviews!**


	7. Dark Alleys

I've been thinking about this story so much lately that I actually had a dream about it last night…and I have to say that I liked that ending so much better! So I'm changing course a little bit and I hope you guys approve. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 7

Dark Alleys

Winter break was finally upon them. The students had all left the castle yesterday to make their way home for the holidays. Finally Severus and Hermione were left in peace to finish their work on the Awakening Potion. Hopefully this time around they would manage to be successful.

Hermione was hovered over a delicate potion in their private labs. Sweat was gathering at her brow as she placed all her concentration on the task at hand. Severus was just a few paces away stirring his own cauldron on the brand new counter-top with a similar look on his face. No words were exchanged between the two scholars but there was no tension between them either. They had finally become comfortable being around each other and it made for a much more conducive working atmosphere.

As Hermione's potion eventually came to a simmer, just as it should, she added one last ingredient before backing away from her potion and retreating to sit at the table on the opposite side of the room. She had about 2 hours before the next stage of her potion and she was going to take the opportunity to catch up on her paperwork. As she was entering her data into the appropriate journal, Severus finished the current stage of his potion and also had to wait a couple of hours to resume his work. He walked over to the table she was sitting at and took a seat as well.

The familiar smell of Severus washed over Hermione and brought her out of her work. She looked up to see him leaning back in his chair relaxing. She had never seen Severus look so at ease. They had just finished brewing the stages of very complex and highly reactive potions and normally he was on edge. She wondered what had changed.

Hermione raised her eyebrow at him before saying, "You seem to be in an awfully good mood. What has you so at ease?"

Severus quipped his eyebrow back in response, clearly he had rubbed off on the woman a little too much, "I just have a good feeling about the potion this time around. Every turn of the potion just felt right."

"Well I hope you're right. We deserve to catch a break. I don't know if we could take another let down," She responded back with a sigh.

Severus hummed in agreement back. Some how he knew this was going to work.

Hermione scratched a few more notes down into the journal before Severus interrupted her once again.

"I had quite the meeting with Lucius a few weeks back. It seems he is rather interested in you," Severus said nonchalantly.

Hermione scoffed and rolled her eyes at the notion," That man is bloody mad. How he even got a position here I'll never know."

"Yes, well money and power can get you whatever you wish, I suppose," Severus said back.

"He's just such a disgusting excuse for a man. I try to avoid him but some how he always seems to find me," Hermione said quietly. She didn't know if Severus knew about their run-ins or not.

"Has he been bothering you still? Lucius is known to try to get his way with beautiful women and I wouldn't put it past him," Severus said with some concern, forgetting himself for a second.

Hermione blushed red. Did he really think she was beautiful? Even if he did she never thought he would admit it.

"We've just had a few run-ins in the hallways. But it's nothing I couldn't handle," Hermione responded, trying to put a brave face on.

"You mean to tell me that he has harassed you on other occasions besides the time I found you in the hallway months ago?" Severus said with a hint of anger in his voice.

Hermione didn't answer his question. She just looked at her hands that were now twisting together in her lap. She was ashamed that Severus had found out about Lucius's attacks on her. She didn't want to seem feeble and unable to take care of herself…and she didn't want Severus to kill anyone.

"Unfortunately it's true, I have encountered him more then a few times since you witnessed that attack. But trust me, last time he didn't get away unscathed," Hermione smirked a little at the memory of Lucius grabbing his groin in pain. That shrinking charm sure did the trick.

"You wicked little witch! I'm glad to hear that you have the situation under control, I would expect nothing less from you after all," Severus said offering another compliment.

"I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself," Hermione said proudly.

"No doubt," Severus responded with a chuckle.

"So what are your plans for the holidays? Christmas Eve is tomorrow night. Are you going to spend it with your family?" Hermione asked the man, trying to inconspicuously find out more information about his background.

"I believe it will be spent here at the castle with only Minerva for company just like every other Christmas," He was silent for a moment before continuing," My family all passed away in my youth," Severus responded quietly but remaining stoic.

"Oh Severus! I'm so sorry! I had no idea…"Hermione apologized profusely.

Severus waved his hand at her to get her to stop, "Don't worry your pretty little head, it was no great loss after all. We were never on the best of terms."

Hermione remained silent for a moment to let him regroup before prodding him a bit further," What happened between you and them?"

He just looked up at her and sat silently not answering her question. She was afraid that she had pushed the conversation too far and opened her mouth to apologize once again before he began to speak.

"I don't normally like to talk about what happened in my past, but I suppose I could make an exception this time as long as there are no interruptions," Severus started.

Hermione nodded her head in understanding and prompted him to begin his tale.

"My father was never the kindest man. He resented my mother and me for having magical powers, something that he didn't posses himself. He resorted to drinking and often overindulged before he came home. I remember cowering in the corner as he beat my mother over and over, praying that she would make it through just one more time. I sat in that corner for years watching him strike her into unconsciousness," Severus gulped before continuing.

"When I was seventeen I decided that I had watched him hit her for the very last time. That night he came home drunk and immediately turned on my mother and began punching her until she was covered in her own blood. After hearing her screams finally I stood up from my corner and threatened my father. He laughed at me and didn't take me seriously. In that moment I ran and tackled him taking him down to the ground and began punching him myself. He eventually over-powered me and threw me against a wall. Then he did something even I didn't think him capable of," Severus cleared his throat emotionally and took a deep breath before continuing.

"He pulled out a handgun and proceeded to shoot my mother three times in the chest before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life," Severus finally finished. He looked up to find Hermione with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I still blame myself for her death…if only I didn't interfere that night maybe she would still be alive," Severus whispered one last time.

Hermione was overcome with emotion and didn't know what to say to Severus. She had figured that his childhood wasn't the greatest but never imagined that it was this bad.

"After that night the only person that cared for me, my mother, was gone. I was left alone with no family to speak of. I was an orphan. I had no one to turn to until Lucius took me under his wing and introduced me to the Dark Lord and his followers. I finally felt wanted for the first time in my life.," Severus said with disgrace.

"The feeling of power and belonging eventually cause me to take the Dark Mark the day I turned eighteen. It was the worst mistake of my life. One that I still pay for today," Severus said as he continued on," The day the Potter's were killed I turned to the side of the light to spy. The rest I assume you are aware of."

Silence settled between them as tears continued to roll down Hermione's cheeks. She continued believe the things that the man in front of her had been through.

"And yet you are a good man despite it all," Hermione whispered to him.

Severus scoffed at her," I don't think many share your opinion of me. I have done many horrific and inexcusable acts in my life. I have killed hundreds of innocent people for no reason. I lived and breathed the Dark Arts; I studied how to murder people in the most painful ways possible. I developed the potions that sustained the Dark Lord's body for all those years. And yet you think I am a good man? That's a laughable notion, Hermione."

"You are, even if you don't believe it yourself. You faced Voldemort head on and snuck information right from under his nose in order to save many more innocent lives then you killed. You were the most important part in bringing down Voldemort. You saved my friends and me on more then one occasion when you should have killed us. And I know the Dark Lord made you pay for that every time it happened. For that I'm sorry," Hermione said passionately.

"It was the penance I truly deserved. With every Cruciatus he cast on me I considered it retribution for all the crimes I had so willingly performed," Severus said a bit harshly.

"When will you stop punishing yourself, Severus? Can't you see that you have more then made up for the stupid decisions of your youth?" Hermione said as she grasped his hand that was lying on the table next to hers.

"I will never be able to pay back my debt, for it is too great. They should have been done with me during the war. So many innocent lives were ended and yet mine was spared," Severus continued and squeezed her hand in return.

"No! You can't believe that you don't deserve to be living today. You are the only reason we are all alive today. You have to believe that. And I know you never got the thanks you warranted which is a shame. I thank you, Severus. I know it isn't a lot but it's all I can offer," Hermione said back to him.

Severus nodded in response. He didn't think he merited thanks from her or anyone but it wasn't worth a prolonged argument with the woman. She wouldn't give up her position and he wouldn't give up his and it was a futile discussion.

Hermione then grabbed his other hand and held both of his hands in both of hers. She caressed the back of his knuckles with her thumbs in small soothing circles. Severus looked down at their hands and thought for a moment about pulling them away but decided against it. This felt right now matter how wrong it actually was.

The two were pulled out of their reverie by a small 'ding' from the timer that was sitting between the cauldrons they had been working on.

Hermione reluctantly released his hands and headed over to her cauldron while Severus did the same thing.

'Stupid potions always interrupting my perfect moments,' Hermione thought to herself.

With a few stirs and the timely addition of a few ingredients on both of their parts, the potions were finally complete.

"We'll go to St. Mungo's tomorrow to test these potions early so you can get to your Christmas Eve activities on time. Until tomorrow, Hermione," Severus said as he bowed his head a little to dismiss her.

With that Hermione left the labs and went to get some rest.

* * *

Once again Hermione and Severus were making the long walk to the gates of Hogwart's just after a shared breakfast. Severus seemed even more open and comfortable with Hermione after their candid conversation from last night. Everything between them was going wonderfully and Hermione couldn't be happier.

Once they got to the appropriate place Severus, now customarily, took Hermione in his arms before apparating to St. Mungo's.

As they entered through the window and made their way to the Longbottoms' room Severus couldn't help but be excited. The potion he had made last night felt so right. It was perfect in every way and he had been very pleased with the results. Hermione's potion was just as perfect. If this round of testing didn't work he wasn't sure that the cure would ever be possible.

Hermione was optimistic about the next round of testing. Last night Severus had been so relaxed after brewing and it was a really good sign. He normally was very uptight when they went to go test their trials and right now he was at ease. She would've like to think that he was more at ease because he was more comfortable with her now, but she knew it was because of the potential of both of their potions. They had worked very hard and she prayed that this round worked. If this trial was unsuccessful she knew this project would be put on the shelf for a very long time – if not indefinitely.

They then turned the corner and made it to the Longbottoms' room. This time, unlike the last few, there was a man sitting in a chair between their beds.

Neville looked a little sad but Hermione could tell that he was trying to remain hopeful that his parents' conditions would improve. She hoped so too.

"Good morning, Mr. Longbottom. I didn't expect you to be here, it is the holidays after all," Severus said curtly. He was still quite snarky when he was in public; he had to maintain his persona after all.

"I always spend Christmas Eve with my parents. Even they don't deserve to be alone on the holidays, sir," Neville responded back as he slowly made his way out of his chair to let the two of them have a place to work.

"Hi Neville! We're very hopeful for this round of potions, I'm glad you're here to be a part of this trial," Hermione said as she hugged her friend. She knew he wasn't very optimistic any more after the months and months of complete failures.

"I hope you're right, Hermione. I don't know how much more I can subject them to. Maybe this was all a mistake. Maybe I should just let them rest in peace…"Neville with a sigh.

"You can't believe that, Neville. They deserve to live and get to know you and their grandchildren. We will figure this out," Hermione said strongly.

Neville sighed once more and ran his hand through his hair, "If anyone could figure it out it would be you and Professor Snape. I hope you're right."

Severus cleared his throat once to gain the attention of Hermione. She quickly made her way to his side with her half of the Awakening Potion.

"This is how this is going to work. You're going to administer your half of the potion first to both of them. We will then wait a few minutes to allow the potion to be absorbed into their bloodstreams before I administer my half. They should then show signs of waking up. Ready?" Severus asked her.

Hermione nodded and uncorked the potion in her now slightly trembling hand. She leaned over Mrs. Longbottom's bed before gently lowering her jaw and dumping half of the vial into her mouth. She then stroked her neck to induce swallowing and ensure that she did so before turning to Mr. Longbottom and performing the same procedure.

Hermione then looked at Severus and nodded her head before standing next to him in the corner of the room.

After a few minutes Severus headed over to their beds and performed the same task as Hermione, being careful to make sure that the entire potion was ingested properly. He locked eyes with Neville and then Hermione.

"Now we wait," Severus said.

The room was completely silent. The only thing that could be heard was the tick-tock of the clock that was hanging on the wall. Surely something should've happened by now.

Still nothing happened. There were no adverse effects but nothing positive either.

Severus sighed in defeat. He turned to face into the corner as he pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

Hermione's stomach dropped. The potion didn't work. All their hard-work had been for nothing.

Then something did happen. The monitors that were connected to the Longbottom's began to beep slightly faster then they ever had.

At the noise, Severus turned around and ran to approach the beds. He leaned down over Alice's bed and saw her eyes trying to open under her eyelids.

Severus turned to Hermione and gave her the broadest smile she had ever seen," They are waking up. Get the nurses!" He said excitedly.

Hermione's face now had an uncontrollable smile smeared across it as well as she ran outside into the hall and yelled for the nurses. All the nurses came running into the room and she followed after them.

She then approached Severus's side next to Alice's bed and both of them watched as her beautiful eyes opened up for the first time in almost thirty years.

Severus then looked at Hermione and gave her a little chuckle in amazement at what they had achieved.

They then looked over at Frank and were excited to see him waking up as well.

Neville ran up to Hermione with tears of happiness and joy streaming down his face and gave her the biggest hug of her life, "Thank you so much! This is unbelievable…I can't believe you brought them back to me. This is the greatest Christmas present I have ever received." He sobbed into her shoulder.

Hermione rubbed his back comfortingly and said," It was our pleasure, Neville."

Hermione then looked around and noticed the billow of familiar black robes exit the hospital room. In the flurry of the excitement surrounding the Awakening and Neville she didn't even notice Severus leaving the room until he was almost already gone.

She released Neville and said," I have to go now. We have to brew more of the potion to administer to other patients. The nurses are going to try to help your parents wake up fully and regain movement. I'm so overjoyed at the results. Go be with your family now! Happy Christmas, Neville."

With that Hermione ran down the hall after Severus.

* * *

Hermione had run all the way out of the hospital and had yet to see sight or sound of Severus. She stopped outside and looked around before her eyes finally fell on him. He was standing in the same small dark alleyway that he was when their potion had failed last time.

Severus was facing the back of the alleyway with his back to the street. The shadows were covering him, so unless someone knew he was there he was difficult to spot.

As Hermione approached him she noticed he had both of his hands cupped around his mouth in shock. She knew he was in his own world when she placed a hand on his shoulder and startled him. He was a very difficult man to startle after all his years of spying and she knew he had finally let his guard down.

Severus turned to face her once he realized that it was just Hermione. Hermione then reached up to place of her hands on either of his shoulders. He responded by placing his hands around her slight waist.

"We did it, Hermione. We actually did it," Severus whispered into her hair.

"I know, Severus. You were wonderful in there," Hermione said as she rested her cheek against his strong chest.

"And you were beautiful…you still are," Severus said as he pushed her away from him so he could cup her face in his hands.

Severus then lowered his lips to hers. Her warm pliant lips melted against his strong ones in a perfect kiss. He ran his tongue along her lips persuading her to grant him entry. As his tongue slipped into her mouth, Hermione threw her arms around his neck. Simultaneously he pushed his hand into the hair at the back of her head to bring her kiss even deeper. Their tongues at first gently caressed each other but eventually turned passionate and battled for dominance. Severus put his arm around her waist and pulled her hips into his as he lifted her to her tiptoes so he could stand up straight with her body flush up against his. The kiss was getting hotter by the minute.

Hermione moaned softly when Severus pushed her up against the brick wall of the dark alley. Her moan broke him of the passionate moment he had lost himself in. He couldn't believe he had Hermione up against the wall of a dirty alley right now…how unlike him.

Severus immediately stepped back and released Hermione from his grasp," I'm sorry, Hermione. I don't know what came over me. This will never happen again…"he apologized profusely.

Hermione hushed his with a quick kiss of his lips, "I'm not sorry, Severus. And you shouldn't be either."

She then turned to walk out of the alleyway and almost reached the point where the sunlight reached the darkness of the shadows when she turned back.

"Never say never, Severus," she said coyly.

He then ran after her and swung her up into his arms before apparating them both back to the castle.

* * *

**A/N:**

**There's a long and exciting chapter for patiently waiting for me to update. Let me know how much you like it with some feedback and reviews please!**

**Thanks again to my awesome reviewers from last chapter: emilyaten, unimaginative lot, heidi191976, lk-hogwarts-headgirl, 1234back, jessirose85, and sweet-tang-honney. **


	8. Joyful Moments

Sorry for the long wait! My life has been hectic because of classes and research. Thanks for sticking around! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 8

Joyful Moments

After a quick apparation from St. Mungo's, Hermione and Severus made their way back up to the castle. Severus held Hermione's hand tight in his hand, glad that he finally acted on his feelings. Even if it was very impulsive of him.

Once they were inside the front foyer of Hogwart's castle Hermione started to walk even more quickly towards the Headmistress's office. Although Severus could easily keep pace with his long strides, he didn't want to be seen rushing excitedly around the castle by the students.

"Hermione, there's no need move quite so hastily. We aren't in a rush after all," Severus said lazily to the young woman.

Hermione slowed down but spun around in a circle because of her happiness," I can't just sit still after a discovery like this, Severus! I just want to jump with joy! I didn't think we could ever do it," Hermione said with a smile up at him. _The sexy kiss in the alleyway wasn't bad either_ she admitted to herself.

Severus just shook his head a little in response. It was so good to see her this happy again. It had been much too long since he had seen a genuine smile cross her face.

After a few minutes at a much slower pace the two reached the entranceway to Minerva's office.

Severus whispered the password _'Gryffindor is the supreme house in Hogwart's'_ with a grudge.

Hermione giggled to herself when she heard the dark Slytherin whisper the password. Surely she thought she would've died before hearing those words uttered from his mouth.

Severus scowled down at her when she giggled, "As you can see, Minerva has quite the sense of humor."

With that the gargoyle moved and Severus ushered Hermione up to the first step while he stood one behind. The stairs turned their way up to the top before coming to a halt. The door to the office swung wide open and revealed Minerva sitting behind her giant oak desk that was once Dumbledore's. The pair walked into the room, and Hermione was startled when the door slammed quite loudly behind them.

"Welcome you two! Please take a seat," Minerva said as she waved her hand at the two seats directly across the desk from her.

After Hermione and Severus settled into their seats Minerva continued to speak," What brings you two to my office today?"

Hermione glanced at Severus as if asking permission to relay the good news to the Headmistress. He nodded and cued her to begin the tale.

"We did it, Minerva! We successfully finished the Awakening Potion! The Longbottom's are now lucid and recovering in St. Mungo's with Neville by their side. We just wanted to tell you the good news before we go brew the potion for the remaining occupants of the ward," Hermione said excitedly.

Minerva glanced between the two of them with a huge smile on her face," I knew you could do it. I'm extremely proud of both of you. You have done a great service not just for the Longbottom's but the entire wizarding world. Well done!"

Severus rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm, "Thank you, Minerva. I owe the success of the potion completely to Hermione. She was brilliant."

Both the women turned to him with their jaws wide open in shock. The man never offered compliments to anyone, especially in the presence of others.

Minerva grinned slyly," I'm sure she was brilliant. She was my best student after all."

"Her current brilliance can only be attributed to the excellent Potion's Master she must have had in her youth, Minerva. Not some silly wand-waving Transfiguration teacher," Severus replied with a smirk.

Hermione punched him lightly in the shoulder for saying such a rude remark to her former mentor.

He just smirked back at her in return.

"We'll just call it a moot point then, Severus. Now I'm going to plan some sort of celebration for the two of you. This is a big advancement after all! I'll sort out the details later," Minerva responded back.

Severus frowned at the idea of a party in his honor," Really Minerva, that isn't necessary."

"I insist. Now off with the two of you! You have plenty of work to accomplish," Minerva responded back by ushering them out of their chairs.

Hermione looked up at Severus before taking his large hand in hers as they exited the office.

Once the door closed behind them Minerva heard the familiar voice of Dumbledore come from his painting," They make such a lovely couple, don't they? I couldn't be happier for Severus."

Minerva swiveled in her chair to face him," He deserves to finally be happy. I'm so glad that this apprenticeship is working out the way we planned. I knew this would push them together."

"Yes, my dear, I do believe our little plan is working out very nicely. Hopefully they will find happiness with each other," Dumbledore responded back.

"I do hope so, Albus. I really do," Minerva sighed back.

* * *

Once Hermione and Severus finally made it down to the dungeons and into Severus's private rooms, Severus warded the door behind them.

Hermione began to walk over to their private lab before she was gently grabbed by the hand and spun into the lap of Severus who was now sitting on the comfy couch in the living room.

Hermione cuddled into Severus's chest and he wrapped his arms around her body as her light weight rested on top of his legs. He placed a tender kiss on the top of her head before breathing in the strawberry scent of her hair.

As Hermione nuzzled even deeper into Severus's strong chest she asked," What about the potion, Severus? We have to finish the next batch for the rest of the patients before we can relax."

Severus put a hand under her chin and brought her face up to his. He caressed her cheek once before placing a feathery light kiss on her lips and whispered against them," They can wait, Hermione. It's Christmas Eve. They'll still be there tomorrow."

Hermione deepened the kiss and wrapped her arms around him and played with the hair at the nape of his neck. Severus moaned in satisfaction as her wriggling on his lap rubbed against his arousal. The kiss lasted a few more minutes before Severus suddenly broke away. Hermione blushed as she realized she had pushed him too far.

He pushed stray tendrils of hair out of her lovely face and said," I don't want to take this too fast. We have plenty of time for that," and he placed one final kiss on her lips.

Hermione nodded in response and understood that he wasn't rejecting her. She settled back into his chest as he stroked up and down her arm with his calloused hand.

"What are your plans for this evening, Hermione?" Severus asked after a moment of silence.

Hermione paused and considered her answer before beginning," Normally on Christmas Eve I go to the Burrow and celebrate with the Weasley's and Harry. But I don't think I'm going to make it this year," she said.

Severus smirked back but she couldn't see it," Oh and why is that?"

"I'm always the odd woman out there. Everyone's paired off but me, Ron has Lavender and Harry has Ginny. Not to mention the fact that Molly still tries to set me up with Ron every year. I swear she's the only person on earth to not realize that he and I would never work. It really broke her heart when we ended our brief relationship," Hermione said sadly, "And now that my parents are gone I'll probably just spend Christmas Eve alone."

Severus hugged her even tighter to his chest before taking a deep breath and asking timidly," Why don't you spend the evening with me?"

There was an awkward pause as Hermione began to realize that her dream had come true. Severus had officially asked her out on a date…well as much of a date as he would ever ask her on.

Severus took her silence as rejection and began to push her off his lap," I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude on your plans for the evening. You're free to leave for the night."

Hermione slid off his lap as he stood up and made his way a few paces away. He looked hurt and she couldn't understand why.

She stood up and turned his shoulder so he could face her. She grasped his chin firmly in her hand before pulling him down so his lips met hers once more. After a moment or two Hermione whispered against his lips," I would love to spend Christmas Eve with you, Severus."

Severus sighed in relief before pulling her into his arms. He had finally snagged the woman of his dreams.

Hermione wriggled her way out of his arms after a couple of minutes and backed away towards the door.

"And where do you think you're going? You just promised me the evening." Severus said slyly.

Hermione pointed to her outfit and hair and said," You think I'm going to spend Christmas Eve with you dressed and looking like this? No I don't think lab coats are appropriate for the dinner table. I'll be back at 7," Hermione said as she blew him a kiss and left the room.

Severus then went to get ready himself. She was right; he couldn't be looking like this if he was going to spend the night with her. This night was going to be perfect.

* * *

After a smooth exit from Severus's chambers, Hermione sprinted over to her own rooms. Once she slammed the door and warded it she jumped up and down and giggled like a little schoolgirl. The man of her dreams asked her out…finally!

She rushed over to her desk and penned a quick note to Ginny:

_Ginny,_

_Tell everyone sorry that I can't make it to dinner tonight. I really wanted to be there but something else suddenly came up. He asked me out! Finally! _

_I'll give you all the dirty details later. Wish me luck! And don't tell the boys the real reason why I won't be there._

_Happy Christmas,_

_Hermione_

She wrapped the note up and sent it with an owl over to the Potter's. She knew Ginny would understand and wouldn't be angry with her. The boys on the other hand wouldn't be too pleased with her. But they would just have to get over it!

She only had a couple of hours to pick out the sexiest outfit and get ready. She hopped into the shower to begin her preparations.

This was going to be the most amazing night of her life!

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading guys! I hope you enjoyed it…leave me a little review with your comments if you want!**

**Thanks to my reviewers from last chapter: emilyaten, flyingchrissy, amorreal, glow91, heidi191976, Unimaginative Lot, artemis-virgin-goddess, lk-hogwarts-headgirl, sweet-tang-honney, and jessirose85. Love you guys!**


	9. You'll Be on My Mind

I'm back! I'm having internet problems right now because my roommate moved out and didn't tell us she was taking all the internet stuff with her…it's really aggravating. Anyways here's another chapter or you! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 9

You'll be on My Mind

After a long luxurious bubble bath Hermione continued her efforts to prepare for the evening to come. She decided to transfigure a special dress out of a plain one that she had hanging in her wardrobe. With a make-up spell that gave her dark smoky eyes and glossy plump lips she began to get dressed.

Hermione stepped in front of the mirror and twirled in satisfaction. Her tight, form-fitting deep red dress clung to her every curve accentuating them in all the right places. The sweetheart cut at the top showed just enough cleavage to not look trashy and desperate. Her neck adorned a single tear-drop diamond on a long chain that her father had given her before his passing. The shoes on her feet were silver and strappy with a 4 inch heel…enough to bring her to the perfect height to kiss Severus.

Hermione stopped twirling and reached up to fix the hair that she had displaced with her girlish antics. Earlier she had piled her sleek chestnut curls on top of her head with many long tendrils framing her face. Ginny had taught her both the make-up and hair-styling charms and she had never been more grateful.

With one last glance in the mirror she decided that she looked as good as she ever would and headed out her door and down the hall into Severus's chambers.

* * *

As Severus adjusted the black bowtie on his muggle tux, he heard a knock at the door. With one last glance in the mirror he sighed and decided that he looked as good as he ever would.

He rushed to the door and when he opened it his breath was stolen from his chest and his jaw dropped.

There stood Hermione in her sexy-as-hell red dress and killer heels. But as he took the sight of her in he noticed the sexiest part of her outfit…the blush adorning her cheeks. Clearly she wasn't used to this kind of attention from men.

Once he managed to close his mouth he offered her a hand and ushered her into the room.

"You look absolutely stunning, Hermione," Severus said as he kissed the hand that he was holding in his own.

Hermione blushed even deeper now, her cheeks matching the shade of the dress that she was now glad she transfigured," You're looking very handsome as well, Severus."

Hermione had noticed the change in his look the second that the door to his chambers opened. He was wearing a muggle tux that was tailored made especially for his body. His tall stature and lean figure looked great and he smelled even better then usual. Hermione was in heaven she was sure.

After gazing into each other's eyes for a moment longer Severus ushered Hermione to the dining room that was right off the kitchen of his rooms. When she walked in she was completely in awe.

There had to have been hundreds of tiny candles lit all around the room and no other light. The scent of hundreds of roses overwhelmed her senses and she closed her eyes briefly to take it all in.

Severus pulled out a chair for her and pushed in back in as she took a seat.

Even the table setting was perfect. The finest silverware was polished and fine china had been set out on the white tablecloth on the table she sat at. Severus took a seat at the small, intimate table opposite of her. He had set out a small bunch of roses in the middle of the table surrounded by tea lights. It was at the perfect height so she could gaze into his dark eyes all night without difficulty.

With a snap of Severus's fingers the room became even more enchanting. Soft romantic music began to play and enveloped the room.

Hermione smiled lovingly at the man across from her. He had put so much effort into this night and it was beyond what she could have ever hoped for. So far it was perfect.

Severus cleared his throat once, clearly feeling self-conscious about his efforts with the room," I hope you find everything to be acceptable?"

Hermione's smile spread even further across her face now as she grasped his hand in hers from across the table and said," Of course! Everything is perfect. Thank you."

He breathed a sigh of relief before gently caressing her hand in return," You must be starving. We haven't eaten all day."

"Yes, I am. What do you have planned?" She asked in return.

Severus just raised one eyebrow in return before snapping his fingers. In a second a house-elf came scampering into the room happily.

"Calla is here! Should Calla bring out the dinner now, Master Severus?" Calla the house-elf questioned him.

"That would be wonderful. Thank you, Calla," Severus said in return.

The house-elf disapparated with a pop into the kitchens.

Hermione was a little put-off that he had a house-elf that he ordered around. She knew he wasn't the kindest man, but she didn't think him capable of becoming a slave-driver over another creature.

Severus took note of the change in Hermione's mood and he suspected what it was about immediately," Calla isn't your average house-elf. I pay her monthly stipends for her work and she only works when she wants to. She really is a very generous house-elf…not unlike your friend Dobby."

Hermione looked up at him with a bright smile once again smeared across her face. She blushed ashamedly for thinking less of him," I'm sorry, I just assumed that you weren't kind to her. I think it's very noble of you to pay her when most other wizards wouldn't. You keep surprising me, Severus Snape."

"Yes, well you try to get Calla to leave my side. I would think it's impossible. She is rather smitten with me I suppose," Severus said back in relief once she started smiling again.

"She's not the only one," Hermione whispered before leaning over the table and planting a light kiss on the corner of his mouth.

Severus drank the sight of her in hungrily and forced himself to get a grip. He needed to get through this dinner without ravaging the poor woman senseless.

With a 'pop' food appeared on both of their plates, "Calla hopes the miss and master enjoy their meals!" the house-elf said before popping right back out.

Hermione took this chance to look down at her meal to see what was being served. Low and behold it was her favorite food of all time, lobster. She dove right into it and took her first bite. It was steamed to perfection and was the absolute best lobster she had ever eaten.

"It's marvelous, Severus!" Hermione said once she finished half of the lobster off her plate.

Severus smiled slightly in return," I'm glad you enjoy it. Calla is very talented in the kitchen."

After they both finished their dinners and were completely stuffed, the plates vanished and were replaced with champagne and a plate full of chocolate covered strawberries.

Hermione gasped in surprise. What a wonderful dessert choice to follow a perfect dinner. It's as if he knew her favorites and prepared them for her.

Severus grinned a little before saying, "Now this I prepared myself. The champagne is elven and is absolutely superb. I insist that you try it."

Hermione nodded and took a sip of her flute of champagne and giggled a little as the bubbles tickled her nose.

Severus took a strawberry in his hand and fed it to her. He gasped as he watched the juice run down her chin and wished that he could clean it off her face himself. But she took care of it first with her napkin.

After she fed him a strawberry in return both decided they had eaten enough for the evening and retreated back to his living room with their champagne flutes in hand.

Severus plopped down onto the sofa first and then pulled Hermione into his lap.

Hermione nuzzled into his chest as he wrapped an arm around her and caressed the back of her head with his other hand. They sat still, surrounded just by each other and the soft music playing for a few moments before Severus tilted Hermione's mouth up to meet his in a tender kiss.

Once the kiss ended, Severus kept his lips close to hers and whispered," Happy Christmas, love."

Hermione placed a light kiss on his lips in return and whispered, "Happy Christmas."

After another few moments of silence Hermione whispered into his chest," Thank you for the most perfect Christmas I have ever had, Severus."

He gripped her tighter and kissed her hair before whispering back," You are the best thing to come into my life in a long time, Hermione. I'm so glad you agreed to have dinner with me tonight, I didn't think you would."

Hermione pulled away from him just far enough so she could look into his dark onyx eyes,"Why would you think I wouldn't want to join you tonight?"

Severus sighed before disentangling her from his arms. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he rested elbows on his knees," There are many reasons, Hermione. Why would you join me would be a more appropriate question."

Hermione opened her mouth to interrupt before she was silenced with his finger on her lips.

"I am an old man, over twenty years your senior. Not only that but my status as a Death Eater for many years and the horrible way I treated you and your friends while you were at Hogwart's was inexcusable. And now I am in a position of authority as your mentor and I'm abusing that privilege by allowing us to get close. But damn it! I can't help how I feel about you. No matter how hard I've tried in the past I can't stay away from you. You deserve better then someone like me," Severus continued with a small choke in his chest.

With the end of his tirade, Hermione threw her arms around his shoulders and nuzzled her head into his neck," You are more then I deserve, Severus. To be honest, I have had a crush on you since my school years."

Severus was taken back by her admission," You've liked me for that long? Why?"

Hermione sighed in relief when he didn't think she was mad," Why wouldn't I? You're brilliant, handsome, confident, and sexy. Everything I look for in a man," She said as she placed a kiss on the pulse-point of his neck.

"Merlin, what have I done to deserve such a beautiful and intelligent woman as you?" Severus said as he turned his head and captured her lips once more in a deep passionate kiss.

He shuffled her back onto his lap and groaned as she began to untie the bowtie of his tux with her legs on either side of his. He caressed the sides of her body and grasped her bottom to pull it closer to his arousal. This time she groaned as her lips found their way down his chest as she unbuttoned his white shirt.

Before she got too low Severus raised her mouth back up to his and pulled her hands off his and chest and into his," Not yet, love. We have plenty of time for that."

Hermione huffed in annoyance before resting her head back onto his now bare chest.

Severus chuckled as she acted like a small child that didn't get her way.

"It's not funny, Severus. I want you more then anything right now," she said huskily back at him.

Severus kissed her once before pulling her off of his lap," Patience, my dear."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she moved to sit next to him on the couch. They sat in silence for a moment before she said," I wanted to wait until tomorrow to give you my gift, but since we have time tonight I think you should have it now."

With that she accioed a wrapped box from her rooms and it landed right in Severus's lap.

He looked at her lovingly and said," You didn't have to get me anything, love."

"I know. I wanted to," she said as she urged him to open it up.

Severus was speechless after he unwrapped the gift. In his hands was a beautiful set of shatterproof flasks. They were highly ornamented and had pewter stoppers each with a spot to engrave the name of the potion it held. The first flask said "The Awakening Potion" and the other four remained blank. He looked at her silently questioning the purpose behind them.

She smiled timidly before saying," I bought this before we completed the Awakening Potion. They're for all the successful potions you will brew in the future…think of it as a trophy case of sorts."

He leaned down and gave her another passionate kiss to quell her self-consciousness and said," They're perfect, love. I'll cherish them forever."

She blushed once again and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"I have something for you as well. I fear it's not as great as the gift you gave me, but I hope you'll like it just as much," Severus said as he accioed his gift.

With a plop a bounded group of parchment landed on her lap. She was shocked and overcome with joy as she read what it said:

_Potion's Weekly_

_The Awakening Potion_

_Researchers: Severus Tobias Snape and Hermione Jane Granger_

"Is this what I think it is, Severus?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Severus nodded, "It's a draft I completed and submitted to Potion's Weekly to be published in next month's journal."

Hermione was flabbergasted," But you recognized me as co-founder of the Awakening Potion in the most prestigious academic journal in the wizarding world. I don't deserve this honor, Severus."

"Yes, love, you certainly do. I never could've finished it without you. You deserve this, it's the least I could do to recognize your efforts," Severus whispered with a small kiss in return.

At this Hermione sent him back an even deeper kiss pushing him down on the couch so she was lying on top of him. It was the best gift ever.

Eventually the couple tired and Hermione put her head on Severus's lap. With his gentle strokes along her back she fell into a peaceful sleep, with the man of her dreams finally by her side.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Just a little fluff before the drama begins again.**

**Thanks for all the amazing reviews! You guys have really out done yourselves!**

**Thanks especially to glow91, jessirose85, emilyaten, Artemis Virgin Goddess, AtomicSoprano, Loyd1989, sweet tang honney, and lk-hogwarts-headgirl…you guys rock!**


	10. All Good Things Come to an End

I'm back with a new chapter for you guys! I wasn't going to write this tonight but I had a sudden urge of motivation so here you go. I hope you enjoy it and as always, Happy Reading!

Chapter 10

All Good Things Come To an End

Hermione woke up the next morning in a strange place she had never been before. She was in a bed that clearly was not hers as it had black satin sheets and she had an extremely masculine duvet covering her body. She only realized where she was once she huffed in the scent of the room. It smelled distinctly of Severus. She took the time to glance at the other half of the bed and noticed it to be empty. Severus must have moved her here last night once she fell asleep on the couch. A blush crossed her cheeks at the thought that he had changed her, but looked down to see herself still in her beautiful red dress. She thanked the gods that he hadn't seen her naked without her knowledge as she rolled out of bed to go find him.

As she tip-toed across the stone floors of his chambers she became more and more nervous as she searched various rooms and had yet to find him.

The last place she looked is where she found him. There he stood before his worktable in the lab working diligently, as always, on a potion. She took the time to lean on the frame of the door and observe him before interrupting him. But he beat her to the punch.

"Happy Christmas, love," He said to her while still stirring the potion, not looking up once at her.

She should have known better then to think that she could've surprised him; he was a master spy after all. She removed herself from the doorframe and quietly moved up behind his body and wrapped her arms around his narrow waist. Her lips sought out the back of his neck as she stood on her tip-toes to place a light kiss there. He sighed in content and leaned back into her embrace.

"What are you working on at this ungodly hour?" Hermione asked teasingly.

He quirked one eyebrow at her cheek before answering her," I'm brewing the rest of the doses we need for the Awakening Potion. I figured we should wake up the rest of the ward at St. Mungo's today as the press has gotten wind of our success already."

"So I take it we're heading back there today? It'll be a great Christmas present to all of those families to have their loved ones back at last," Hermione said.

Severus grunted in response as he bottled the remaining potions before he started the next round. After he was finished he turned around and took her in his arms and kissed her lovingly on the lips.

After the kiss was broken he whispered across her lips, "You should go back to your chambers and prepare for the rest of the day. As much as I love you in that dress I would rather no one else but me get to see it. I'm rather the jealous type you see," he joked.

She smiled and nodded her head in response. She placed one last kiss on his lips before she made her way out of the lab, making sure her hips were swaying seductively for Severus.

Severus groaned as he watched her leave, she looked so damn sexy, "Out now, witch, before I take you right here on this lab table."

Hermione slyly turned around in response and said, "That wouldn't be so bad now would it, love?"

Severus just smiled and shook his head before returning back to his cauldron to brew the rest of the potions.

* * *

Hermione stepped out of his chambers and began to walk down the hallway. She was on Cloud 9 and couldn't remember a time that she was ever happier.

She realized that she had forgotten her wand in Severus's chambers as her skimpy dress didn't exactly have a suitable place to put it. A little annoyed with herself she thought about returning to go get it but decided against it. Her rooms were so close to his that she wouldn't need it before she saw him again.

Hermione didn't get much further down the hallway before she felt a hand tightly grab her wrist and pull her into a dark out-cove. She was shoved roughly against the cold stone wall. Her body was pinned between the wall and a muscular body with a tell-tale bulge letting her know it was a randy man. She couldn't move. It felt as if there was a body-bind on her body. She couldn't decide if it was fear keeping her from moving or a spell…either way it wasn't good. Her wand wasn't on her person and she immediately regretted not returning to get it.

Hermione looked up to see the lust-ridden eyes of Lucius staring back at her frightened ones.

His hands began to roughly roam across her body and he spread her legs by shoving his thigh between them.

"Looks like this will be a happy Christmas for me after all, Mudblood," Lucius maliciously whispered into her ear before taking her lobe into his mouth and biting down hard enough to draw blood.

She screeched in pain before saying," You'll never get away with this. Someone will come looking for me."

Lucius gave a little laugh before biting down hard on her neck which elicited another yelp of pain from the woman," Who would be looking for you? Severus maybe?"

Hermione looked shocked at what he had just said. How could he have possibly known about them?

"Don't look so surprised. Of course I know about the two of you. As much as Severus says that he would never shack up with a know-it-all mudblood like you, I see it in his eyes. He lusts after you just as much as I do," he said as he thrust his very large erection into her stomach.

"That will make this even more thrilling for me. Taking you right across the hall from your dear Severus's chambers. He's standing just within those walls and has no idea what I'm about to do to you," Lucius said before leaning down to whisper in her ear once more, "It'll ruin him knowing that I got to you first."

Hermione gasped as she thought about Severus's reactions to Lucius's attack on her. She was saddened at the thought. She had to get out of here!

Lucius slammed her hard against the wall and continued roughly caressing and holding her body with his hands, leaving bruises wherever he touched.

"You won't escape like you did last time, Mudblood. Simple body binding charms can be quiet useful," he laughed as he crashed his mouth onto hers.

He bit both of her lips until blood was running out of them and savagely shoved his tongue into her mouth. It wasn't long before he became even more terrible in his treatment of her.

He tore the red dress at the seams and she was left in just her bra and knickers as he divestioed the clothes off of himself. His hands were everywhere and he was biting her neck and chest so hard is was drawing blood. Her body was scraping up and down across the rough surface behind her, surely scratching and bruising the hell out of her back. The only thing keeping him from entering her was the small scrap of knickers keeping him out. She began to cry as he moved his hips and erection against her opening through the material. There was nothing she could do to stop him so tears began to stream down her cheeks.

He pulled away and yelled, "Sectumsempra!" a few times and laughed as the blood began to run down her body.

"Good thing your dear Severus taught me that spell. I knew it would come in handy eventually," Lucius laughed before continuing his attack.

The blood began to pool at their feet and drenched his erection which seemed to turn him on even more.

This was it. He was finally going to rape her. He was going to take her right here in this hallway just mere feet from where Severus was and there was nothing she could do about it.

He ripped her bra off of her chest and tore her knickers with one swipe of his strong hands. Lucius gathered her thighs in his arms and shoved them roughly against the wall before positioning himself at her entrance.

"I've dreamed of this moment, Mudblood. Making you pay for what you've done to me. Severus will never want you after he finds out what I did to you. Everyone will know you're a whore who begged for me to take you. Let me hear you beg," Lucuis said as he gripped her throat and constricted her airway.

Hermione gasped for air that wouldn't come. She could only get one word out," Never!"

Lucius punched her hard across the cheek for disobeying. Her face began to swell immediately, "Say it! Beg for me!"

Hermione's vision began to come in spots and darkness threatened to take over as he continued to choke her against the wall.

Then a miracle happened. He dropped her off of the wall and onto the ground. She still couldn't move because of the body bind but she heard exactly why Lucius had stopped. Footsteps were quickly approaching around the corner.

With a flick of his wand, Lucius was back in his clothes and crouched down next to her naked and battered body, "Shut-up and stay put until it's clear, Mudblood. This will be a walk in the park compared to what I'll do to you next time if you disobey."

He savagely kissed her one last time, released the charm, and stepped out into the light of the hallway, leaving her naked and bleeding in the darkness.

"Headmistress! What brings you down to bowels of the castle?" Lucius questioned her before taking her arm and escorting her away from where Hermione was laying.

"I was just here to see if Severus was coming to Christmas brunch. He's such a grump around the holidays so I like to make sure he gets out of his chambers," Minerva said as she allowed herself to be escorted away.

"I'll personally make sure that he makes it to brunch, Headmistress. Now shouldn't we head there ourselves?" Lucius said charmingly.

"Oh! Of course. Lead the way!" Minerva responded.

With that they left the vicinity of the crime.

* * *

Hermione was relieved when she heard the footsteps lead away from where she was. She waited until she was absolutely sure that they were gone before breaking down into sobs.

She cried for awhile before lifting the pieces of her dress and trying to cover herself up. She was just around the corner from her own room. She couldn't believe that Lucius had gotten away with assaulting her just across the hall from Severus's chamber. He would never forgive himself if he found out.

She winced as she got up off the floor and knew that she definitely had at least a few broken ribs and not to mention a bruised and battered body. There were gashes all across her stomach and thighs with blood pouring down them. With no way to heal herself before seeing Severus because she didn't have a wand she would have to find him first.

She limped back to Severus's doorway with just the red scraps of fabric covering her most private parts. Her body was covered in blood and her eye was swollen shut from the punch to the face. She knocked weakly on the door with her last bit of energy. Hopefully Severus would hear it even though it wasn't very loud.

The gods were with her because he opened the door after just that one knock.

Spots began to come into Hermione's vision again as she began to sway on her feet. She noticed the look of horror on his face when he took in the state of her body.

"Severus…."Hermione whimpered with her last bit of energy before her world became black.

* * *

A/N:

Bwahahaha…evil author I know!

Thanks for the great reviews you guys! Keep them coming!

Thanks especially to: lk-hogwarts-headgirl, polkadot girl, emilyaten, glow91, AtomicSoprano, Heidi191976, mysticpammy, and sweet-tang-honney.


	11. Worries and Wrath

Another chapter so soon! Yes I say! I'm sick in bed and honestly have nothing better to do with my time….lucky readers you. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 11

Worries and Wrath

Severus was working intently on his next batch of potions reminiscing about the night spent with Hermione. If he were the type of man to smile and whistle over a good night he probably would have done so in this moment.

Everything in his life was actually falling into place. He is having the Christmas he had always dreamed of. He's with the woman he is growing to love and administering a successful potion that they worked on together to save the lives of an entire ward of St. Mungo's. Life didn't get much better then this.

Maybe his life was going to turn around. Maybe the gods had finally blessed him with a happy life. Maybe he wouldn't have to be miserable ever again. With this last thought a small smile began to grace his usually stern face. He wasn't normally one to be caught grinning like a fool but this moment was too good to be true.

He was brought out of his thoughts when his wards indicated there was someone at his door. After putting a stasis spell on the potion he had been working on, Severus made his way through the living room and to the door of his chamber. Wondering who it could possibly be, he opened the door and couldn't believe what he saw was real. Surely it couldn't be.

There swaying before him was Hermione. She was covered in an impossible amount of blood and covered by nothing but scraps of the beautiful red dress that he loved so much. Her eye was swollen and bleeding as well. She didn't make a sound except for a few whimpers and shallow breaths. His mind began to race as it took in the sight before him. This couldn't be happening. His Hermione couldn't be looking like this.

Severus was frozen at the sight of her. He said nothing but merely took in big gulps of air to steady himself. He didn't utter a word but merely tried to take in the sight before him. Maybe it was a mirage. Maybe if he blinked she wouldn't be there and this would've never happened. He tested his theory out and blinked hard and opened his eyes again to find her still standing there in the same horrific state.

She began to sway even more now. Her eyes were beginning to roll into the back of her head. Her breathing was ragged as she tried to get some oxygen into her beaten lungs. The blood was still pouring out of the gaping wounds that ran across her stomach and thighs. Even the scraps of material were saturated in her blood, making them even darker.

"Severus…." She whimpered.

With that her eyes closed and she began to crumple to the ground. His instincts finally kicked in and he caught her limp body before it had a chance to hit the hard ground.

Severus carefully pulled her up into his arms bridal style. He held her in his arms for a moment still in shock that she was in such a bad way. What was he going to do with her? He had to get her out of the hallway before someone spotted her, he knew this much. Racing out of the hall, he swiftly carried her into his bedroom and placed her on his bed.

"Hermione, love, wake up! You need to stay with me. I need you! Don't give up!" He said to her broken body as he caressed her unbeaten cheek with one thumb. He felt a sob threatening to escape his chest.

He caressed her cheek for a moment before composing himself. He couldn't get hysterical. She didn't have time for him to lose his cool. There would be time for that later. Normally he would be level-headed in these situations but clearly she had a much different effect on him. She was much more important to him than any other person in the world. He needed to save her and to do this he needed to get her medical attention immediately.

He ran to the fireplace, flooed the infirmary and yelled, "Poppy! I need your help now!"

Poppy Pomfrey was organizing her stocks when she heard the yells coming from her fireplace. She realized the voice belonged to Severus. Never had she heard him sound so desperate before. Something was seriously wrong.

Severus stepped back from his fireplace as Poppy made her way through. As soon as she had gathered herself after her journey Severus brought her to his bedroom.

Poppy gasped and stood still for a moment as she took in the sight before her. Hermione Granger looked near death lying ever so still on the bed. Blood was flowing freely out of her body and pooling around her and seeping into the otherwise beautiful black satin sheets.

After a moment of disbelief she regained her focus and returned to her level-headed mediwitch persona, "What happened to her, Severus?" she said sternly as she waved her wand over the woman while casting diagnostic spells.

Severus was waving his wand over Hermione as well, "I don't know. I saw her not even 45 minutes before now and she was perfectly fine. She showed up at my door looking like this."

Poppy continued to work on her and eventually was able to fix all of the external wounds she was able to. There would be scarring, for that she was certain, but at least they were closed. Her internal injuries were a whole other story. They were extensive and she would have to do some serious healing to even attempt to save her life.

"Severus, you need to leave the room. I'm going to have to perform a few procedures that you shouldn't watch your apprentice go through," Poppy said as she continued to wave her wand.

Severus shook his head vehemently and argued, "No. She's my responsibility. I'm staying here with her."

At this Poppy stopped her wand-waving and turned to the man and said sternly, "Severus there's nothing left for you to do. Don't make me curse you to get out of here!"

"I can't leave her, Poppy! Damn it! I need to stay with her. This is entirely my fault! If I wouldn't have let her leave alone none of this would have ever happened," Severus yelled desperately.

"In no way is any of this your fault, Severus. Whoever was sick enough to inflict these injuries would have done so with or without you standing guard," she whispered before returning to her strict self, "And I won't continue my work until you're out of here. I have to examine her in places that are inappropriate for you to see. If you want what's good for her you better march yourself into the living room and stay there!" Poppy yelled back at him.

Severus was stunned. Usually he would argue back but the mediwitch seemed to be all business. As much as he wanted to stay her Hermione's side, he wanted her to survive this more. Knowing there was nothing more he could do but get in the way he bowed his head in shame and worry as he made his was out into the living room to wait.

* * *

Severus paced the living room once he was removed from his bedroom. He couldn't sit still knowing that Hermione was in there near death.

His hands cupped his mouth as he exhaled a large breath of air.

Everything had been going so right in his life and then this had to happen to his Hermione. Why did the gods hate him so?

All he could think about was her dying. She was in horrible shape when he found her. The image of her bloodied and bruised body with her swollen eye looking up at him and whimpering his name would be one that would never leave. He had seen many horrible things in his life but this had to be the worst. How could someone attack such a pure and beautiful woman as Hermione?

With this thought a tear leaked out of his eye. He rubbed at it furiously to remove it from his cheek. He couldn't break down. Hermione needed him to be strong and crying wasn't going to make her any better.

Severus had a suspicion as to who was behind this attack; in fact the man was the probable suspect. Lucius Malfoy definitely had some part in this attack on her, for this he was certain. He had been trying to get to Hermione since she stepped foot in this castle in September. Lucius's motives behind the attack were unknown to Severus. But one thing was for certain, Hermione was not supposed to survive this attack.

This angered Severus further. As soon as he had absolute proof that Lucius did this to Hermione he would kill him with his own hands. He would make him suffer so much pain that he would beg for death. The pain the Dark Lord inflicted on them would be nothing compared to what Severus would do, for that Lucius could be certain.

Then, after 3 long hours of waiting, his bedroom door opened to reveal Poppy. She slowly made her way over to Severus. Her brow was covered in sweat and she was shaking with exhaustion. Not once did she make eye contact with Severus but her expression said it all. Sorrow was written across her face and Severus knew this could only mean one thing…his Hermione didn't make it.

His legs gave out with the rush of emotion that he felt and he found himself seated on the couch. A sob threatened to escape his chest as the mediwitch took a seat next to him on the couch. She placed a hand on his shoulder and began to rub it soothingly.

Severus shook his head over and over, not believing it to be true, "No, no, please no…"

A tear leaked out of Poppy's eye as she looked into her lap and said the most dreaded words that Severus never wanted to hear, "I'm sorry…"

With this a sob did escape his chest and tears began to stream down his face. He had never felt such agony. Surely Poppy would wonder about his strong reaction to the news about Hermione as she didn't know about their more then professional relationship, but Severus no longer cared. It didn't matter. His Hermione was gone and there was nothing that would bring her back.

His sobs increased and he began crying so hard he found it hard to breathe. Poppy did the only thing she could do and took him into her arms and rocked him like he was a small boy again.

He pushed her off him. He didn't want Poppy's arms around him or any other woman's except his Hermione's.

She was gone.

If only he had walked her home like a gentleman should've after a date like they had. If only he had never even let her leave his arms ever again she would still be with him. And the worst part is, he realized, that she must have been brutally attacked some time between her walk from his chambers to hers. It was a mere 20 meters or so…not more. She was attacked right outside his door and this killed him even more. If only he had just walked outside his chambers in that time he could've stopped it.

He would never stop blaming himself. He would never forget the love that he brutally lost.

One thing was for sure though, Lucius would die.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hehehehehehe, sorry it's kinda short but so much happened! You like?

Thanks to my awesome reviewers from last chapter: emilyaten, glow91, llamaface2007, jessirose85, polkadot girl, sweet-tang-honney, itsinmyblood, Pau-0803, heidi191976, and lk-hogwarts-headgirl.

Thanks! And if you add this story as an alert or favorite please leave me a review with some feedback. I'll love you forever if you do!


	12. What?

Whewww! I can't believe the amount of feedback I got from the last chapter! I'm glad you guys like my story enough to feel so strongly about it…I'm honored! Here's your little reward for putting up with my cruelty as an author. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 12

What?

Severus's world was crashing down around him. She was dead. Gone forever and never to return. He would never get to see how far their relationship would've gone. He never got to tell her how much she meant to him. Anger mixed with anguish continued to flood his body. How he wished it were him that were dead and not her! Anyone but his Hermione…

Next to him Poppy was sniffling into a handkerchief that she had conjured. Severus turned to look at her just once and noticed the woman wasn't sobbing as she should've been. Maybe Hermione wasn't as important to her as he had originally thought. He wished she would leave so he could mourn in private.

Poppy saw how much this affected him and since he rejected her hug, she decided to rub his arm soothingly. He looked at her before harshly brushing her hand away.

Poppy placed her hand once again onto his arm and began to rub soothing circles. Severus once again pushed her hand away only to have it return.

"Stop touching me you bloody ridiculous woman!" Severus yelled at her as a sob escaped his chest.

Poppy removed her hand and set it back in her own lap, "I'm so sorry, Severus. I know you two must have become close while working together. I hate to see her like this."

Severus scoffed aloud at her last point, "I don't think anyone is excited to see her like this. I still can't believe this happened to her…"

Poppy gave another sniffle before saying, "I know! Clearly she was brutally attacked. I just wonder why she didn't use her wand."

"There's no point in asking questions that we'll never know the answers to, Poppy." Severus said sadly before putting his elbows on his thighs and his head into his hands. He looked so lost, and he had never felt worse.

Poppy sighed, "Maybe she will wake up one day soon, Severus. There's always hope."

'Why would Poppy say something strange like that?' Severus wondered to himself before questioning the woman himself, "Unless you have discovered the potion to bring back the dead that's bloody unlikely."

Poppy seemed confused by his statement. Her eyebrows furrowed together while she tried to piece together what was going on.

"Dead? What do you mean dead?" Poppy asked, still confused.

Severus's hands dropped from his head as he turned to look at her.

'What was the infernal woman prattling on about now?' he wondered.

"Yes, Poppy, dead. Ceasing to live. No pulse and no breathing. Unfortunately the fate that Hermione has undoubtedly succumbed to with no help from yourself," he said irritated beyond belief that she couldn't even remember Hermione dying not even twenty minutes ago.

Then Poppy did the last thing he ever thought she would in a situation like this…she smiled and gave a little giggle.

This infuriated Severus beyond belief. He stood up and towered over the woman that had the urge to giggle at Hermione's death and yelled, "You have the gall to laugh at her death? Is this all a game to you? A woman has just died and is never going to return! A woman I happen to care deeply for and all you can do is laugh? Damn it! Have a little respect!"

Poppy simply pursed her lips in response and said, "I think there's been a huge misunderstanding, Severus."

Severus furrowed his brow at this and said, "What's there to misunderstand? She's dead!"

"I'm not sure how to tell you this…"Poppy started before she was interrupted.

"Just spit it out!" Severus yelled impatiently.

"Hermione isn't dead…yet," she said quickly.

The news hit Severus like a ton of bricks and he collapsed back onto the sofa as his knees gave out and the air was pushed out of his lungs.

Severus sat silently in shock as he tried to take in what Poppy had just told him. He had already begun the mourning process and to hear news that she wasn't in fact dead was too much for his mind to handle.

She turned to him and rubbed his arm, this time he didn't bat her away.

"She…she's…alive?" Severus eventually managed to stutter out.

"Yes she's alive. But only just. The extensive damage to her body has put her into a deep coma so she can heal. That's the good news. The bad news is that I'm not sure if she'll ever wake up…not many do from the state she was in. I'm so sorry, Severus," Poppy said sadly.

"Sorry? You're sorry? Do you realize what you've put me through?" Severus questioned her quietly before standing up once more and raising his voice, "How could you let me think she was dead? Why? Why would you do this to me?"

Poppy hunched her shoulders, clearly at least a little ashamed of what had transpired, "I didn't know that's what you thought! I never said she was gone. It's not my fault your mind automatically jumped to that conclusion."

This made Severus absolutely blow up at her.

"What do you mean 'it's not your fault'? Of course it's your fault! You come out here looking forlorn and covered in sweat and all you say to me is 'I'm sorry'. What else would you have me assume? That you're sorry she's alive? Damn it, Poppy! I thought you were more competent then this!" he raged at her.

"I'm sorry, Severus. But can't you just be thankful that she's alive? I performed some damn good magic to get her to this point! Under any other healer she may not have been so lucky!" an upset Poppy said, "She's alive despite the fact that she had terrible injuries and all you can focus on is how I wronged you. Shame on you, Severus!"

He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. All the tension from his outrage dissipated out of his muscles and was released from his body. He became calm for the first time since Poppy came out of his bedroom.

Severus sat back down onto the couch and put his head in his hands and whispered, "I'm sorry, Poppy. You're right, I've been a bloody prat. I should be down on my knees thanking you for saving her but instead I'm cursing you out," he raised his eyes to meet hers and finished, "Thank you."

Poppy suddenly felt bad for the man once more and whispered back, "You're welcome."

After a moment of awkward silence because of the epic argument Poppy asked, "Would you like to see her?"

This perked Severus up and he nodded his head and stood up and away from the couch.

They headed over towards the bedroom together and were about to enter until Poppy stopped him before they could.

"She's in really bad shape. I tried to mend as many of the critical injuries that I could but I didn't want to put her body into shock by healing the minor ones as well. She's been through a lot today…just keep that in mind," Poppy said sadly to Severus.

Severus mentally tried to prepare himself for what he was about to see. Nobody ever wanted to see the woman they cared for in such a position. Right now he was just glad that he wasn't going to be looking at her corpse.

Poppy opened the door and lead the two of them into the room. As soon as he crossed the threshold the smell of blood and potions over took his senses. It was almost enough to make him vomit. He hadn't dealt with this kind of awful stench since his days with the Death Eaters until now…with Hermione being the victim.

Poppy stood at the foot of the bed and observed her deathly pale patient before turning to Severus and saying, "I'll give you some time alone with her. Floo me if you need anything," before she rubbed his arm one last time and left out of the door she came in.

Not until Poppy was completely gone did he turn to see Hermione.

The sight was absolutely the terrible.

Hermione was lying in his black satin sheets; her skin was stark white in contrast to the darkness around her. Her eye was still swollen and it looked like most of the smaller gashes across her body were left to heal on their own.

Severus stepped closer to her bedside and sat on the edge to get a better look at her.

Her hair was a mess, but still the lovely curls framed her beaten face. The too pale expanse that was her once creamy skin was randomly splotched with dark bruises and cuts that would surely leave scars. He touched her cheek and found it to be ice cold, probably from the blood loss.

Surely she wasn't alive right now. He had never seen someone who looked that close to death and wasn't already six feet under.

He checked her chest and was content when he found it rising and falling with every breath that she took. With his hand spread open he placed it gently on her chest and felt her heart beating inside.

Yes, she was indeed alive.

With this last thought he broke down into sobs.

One hand covered his mouth as the guttural sounds escaped his chest and the other one cupped her cheek. Tears were rolling down his cheeks, but for once they weren't in anguish. He was overcome with happiness to finally have the proof in his own hands.

His Hermione was alive!

With a few last sniffles Severus lied down next to Hermione's still body and scooted as close to her as he could without causing any more damage.

He kissed her once on the lips before bringing his mouth up to her ear and whispering, "Hermione, my love, wake up. I know you can hear me. Please don't leave me here alone! I'll do anything to have you back with me….anything! Just please return to me…" he stopped because he got choked up for a moment before continuing while stroking her hair gently, "I thought I lost you today. I should've walked you home. I never should have let you out of my sight with Lucius in the castle. I'll kill him. He will never touch you again, love, I swear."

He caressed her for a few more minutes before his eyes began to flutter, struggling to stay open. He kissed her mouth one more time before whispering against her lips. "I love you."

With that his eyes closed shut.

* * *

Author's Note:

YOU GUYS ROCK! I have never gotten such an enthusiastic response out of my readers before! Sorry for the angst…you know you secretly liked it. And yes, Hermione is alive! You know what happens when you assume don't you….that's all I'm saying.

Thanks especially to my reviewers: emilyaten, glow91, artemis virgin goddess, loyd1989, atomicsoprano, Amer, sshglover, babmilion, heidi191976, sweet tang honney, jessirose85, polkadot girl, itsinmyblood, Pau-0803, forever-heartbroken, and Rosaliehale38.

Please leave some more feedback and let me know what you think!


	13. Waiting on an Angel

Ok this could quite possibly be my last update for awhile. This coming week is finals and my 21st birthday! For those of you not in the States it means I can legally drink…which means my twin and I are going to party with all of our friends next weekend. So it will be at least a week until my next update…probably longer. But don't worry I'm not abandoning the story! Anyways, enjoy and happy reading!

Chapter 13

Waiting on an Angel

Severus was woken by someone bustling around the bed he was lying in. He was curled up next to Hermione and didn't want to move…no matter how much the offending person wanted him to. He wanted to stay with her forever; leaving her would only get her hurt like it did last time. No, he was staying right where he was and nobody would tell him otherwise.

Poppy shook Severus's shoulders. She knew he was awake because his eyes were moving under his lids. When he seemingly refused to wake up, Poppy became irritated so she shook him even harder. Still nothing.

With an exasperated sigh Poppy said, "Severus! Get out of that bed right now so I can do my job!"

After the screeching in his ear, Severus could no longer deny the fact that he was indeed awake, "I'm not moving, Poppy. You're just going to have to do your work around me."

Poppy huffed once more before grabbing his arm and physically dragging him out of bed. Severus didn't think the witch had it in her to move his much larger form until he found himself on the ground next to the bed. Clearly he had underestimated her strength.

She crouched down next to him before he could start his rant and said, "If I would've known that you were going to sleep on top of the poor girl I never would've left you here alone. Hermione's condition isn't good enough for you to be putting stress on her body like that! Shame on you!" She dragged him off the floor by the ear and ignored his screeches as she threw him out the door yelling, "Get yourself cleaned up, Severus. You're a mess!" and then slammed the door before he could retort back.

Severus seethed for a moment after he had been unceremoniously thrown out of his own bedroom. Damn his bloody ear hurt! He reached up to soothe it as he began to calm down. Not many treated him like that and lived to tell the tale. But for Poppy he would make an exception because she was caring for Hermione.

With nothing better to do but wait for Poppy to finish her work on Hermione, Severus decided to take her advice and get himself cleaned up.

He stopped under the hot jets of water in his shower and felt the tension leave his body. The stress of the last two days had been more then he'd ever had to deal with before…even when he was under the reign of two masters. Then at least he had control over his own life, but with Hermione only she can pull through this. There was nothing he could do to help her at this point except to keep her company. It was all up to Hermione whether she would live or die, and this frightened Severus. Now that he had her he didn't ever want to lose her. He couldn't live without her now that he had been with her. Severus continued to wash his hair and body until the water ran cold. He got out and prepared himself for the day.

After he was clothed, he entered the living room expecting Poppy to have already finished her work on Hermione. But he was wrong. The door to his bedroom was still closed and locked. He sighed and took a seat on the couch to pass the time. He had done enough pacing in the last 48 hours to last him a lifetime.

Just as his thoughts began to wander back to Hermione and how she was doing, his reverie was interrupted by a scratching at his window. He turned to find an owl hooting outside with a letter in tow. Wondering who exactly would be sending him a letter he stood up and approached the window. He opened it and removed the letter from the owl's leg and waved at it to try to shoo it away. The owl merely bounced around to avoid his hand but never left. Clearly it was told to wait for a response. Sighing Severus turned the letter around and discovered the seal of St. Mungo's Hospital on the back. Without any hesitation Severus opened the letter which read:

_Dear Professor Snape,_

_I am sincerely sorry to have interrupted you during this undoubtedly busy holiday period, but I was inquiring as to when you and your assistant, Miss Granger would be gracing us with your presence. According to my schedule you were supposed to arrive yesterday afternoon to administer the rest of the Awakening Potion to our patients._

_Under normal circumstances I wouldn't pester you with such an inquiry but after the Longbottoms' miraculous recoveries after given your potion, word has spread fast. My ward is now completely full with the families of my patients, who were expecting you to administer the potion yesterday. Not only that, but the press has gotten wind of the discovery and are now camped outside the hospital waiting for your arrival and comments on the Awakening Potion's success._

_I am hoping that you and Miss Granger can arrive as soon as possible. It would really make this holiday season perfect for the families of our residents. Please send me word back of when you plan on returning so I can plan accordingly._

_Sincerely,_

_Matilda Watson_

_Healer-in-Charge_

_Spell Damage Floor_

Severus was angered by her letter. How dare she bother him with something as menial as this when his Hermione was fighting for her life! He had priorities and St. Mungo's would just have to wait until she could be there with him. This was just as much her project as it was his. He didn't want her to miss seeing the happy faces of the cured for she would relish in that much more then he ever would. He just wanted to see her happy and curing those patients would surely do that. He wouldn't go without her, for that he was certain.

He found a piece of parchment to scratch a response down on. After dipping his quill in some ink he scrawled out a message in return:

_Healer Watson,_

_The administration of the Awakening Potion has been pushed back to an undetermined date because of an emergency at the castle, the details of which will not be released to maintain my privacy. _

_S. Snape_

With that he rolled it up and attached it to the owl's leg, which promptly flew off into the morning sky.

Severus knew that he was letting down the entire ward but he didn't care. The Daily Prophet was sure to have a field day over his refusal to come in. Not that he really cared.

He sighed once more before returning to his seat on the couch. She would probably be angry with him if she woke up for not helping the people without her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It wouldn't be right to administer the potion she had worked so hard on because she had been unfairly attacked. Gods how did he let her get into this mess? He just hoped she would survive, because he would never forgive himself otherwise. He would be lost without her. He was brought out of his thoughts by Poppy coming back out of the bedroom.

Severus stood and turned to Poppy to get the undoubtedly bad news. There was no smile on Poppy's face as she approached the man before her.

"How is she?" Severus asked nervously, afraid to know the truth.

Poppy sighed as she shrugged her shoulders, "I honestly don't know. I cured all of her minor and major injuries now. I administered blood replenishing and pain medicines which will have to be given to her every 4 hours for the next few days. From what I can tell she should be awake already. I'm so sorry, Severus," Poppy said as she drooped her head.

Severus couldn't form words so he simply nodded his head in understanding before heading into the bedroom to where Hermione was laying. He sat in a chair next to her bed and held her hand tightly in his large one and caressed it softly.

He didn't even notice Poppy was in the room with him until she said, "We should tell Minerva about this now. We don't know when Hermione's going to get better and Minerva should know about the attack on the school grounds."

Severus didn't fight with the witch, but merely nodded his head once again, indicating for Poppy to go and retrieve her. Poppy left the room swiftly and he heard her floo to the Headmistress's office.

After he knew she was gone he placed a kiss on Hermione's lips. They were still cold, but slightly warmer then they were yesterday. All of the cuts and bruises on her body were now gone and replaced with small scars. Her eye was no longer swollen over, but was still tightly closed. The state of her body, although better then what it was, still saddened Severus beyond belief. A tear leaked out of his eye and onto her cheek before he could wipe it off of his own. With part of the satin black sheet he wiped his own salty tear off of her face.

He began to caress her face with his hand until he heard the floo activate once again. This time he heard two female voices enter his chambers rather than one. He brought his hand away from her face, placed it back into his lap and leaned into his chair. Although he was sure that Minerva already knew about their relationship, he didn't want to fuel the fire at a time like this.

When Minerva entered her face turned pale and her mouth opened in shock, "How did she end up like this? And why was I not informed sooner?" she asked.

Her favorite lioness was in bed, unbeknownst to her in much better state then she had been just a few hours ago, looking horrible. Why in the world was she in such a sorry state and she didn't even know about it? She approached the foot of the bed to get a better look at her. Frustration rose in her chest when neither Poppy nor Severus answered her questions, "Well?"

Severus cleared his throat before starting the tale, "I'm afraid she was attacked yesterday morning. We don't know for sure who did it, but I deduced that it happened somewhere not far from here. She showed up at my door in a much worse state then she is currently. Poppy worked on her to the best of her ability, but we are afraid that she's in a coma. When or if she will wake up is yet to be known. We thought you should know about the attack within the walls of the castle now that Hermione is stable."

Minerva was taken back by this information. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to form the words she wanted to say. Finally she was able to speak, "But…but I was in the dungeons yesterday morning and didn't see or hear a thing. I came to retrieve you for Christmas breakfast but Lucius intercepted me and escorted me up to the castle insisting to get you himself. I was wondering why you never did come to breakfast. Unfortunately now I know why," Minerva said.

She looked down at Hermione one last time before saying, "Whoever did this will be brought to justice. No one should get away with such a brutal act and come out unscathed."

Severus nodded his head once again. The pieces of the puzzle were coming together. This was just another clue pointing towards Lucius as the suspect. He was going to kill the bastard himself. Justice will most definitely be served.

* * *

Author's Note:

Thanks for the awesome reviews from last chapter! I really appreciate the time you guys spend in order to give me some feedback!

Thanks especially to: glow91, sweet-tang-honney, polkadot girl, artemis virgin goddess, itsinmyblood, jessirose85, heidi191976, Amanda N. Lupin, loyd1989, and Rachel.

Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Loved it? Hated it? Let me know!


	14. The Waiting Game

I'm back! Thanks for being patient and waiting for this update! My life has been crazy for the last couple weeks and I'm sorry I ignored you for so long. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 14

The Waiting Game

Severus's eyes opened to the gleaming light shining through the magically placed window on his bedroom wall. He had been having the most wonderful dream. Hermione was awake and they were picnicking next to the lake under the tree that he knew she loved so much. But now he was back in the nightmare that was reality.

New Year's had came and went and still Hermione wasn't awake. Severus had sat vigilant by her bedside every moment since Minerva had found out about the attack and he had never felt more helpless.

Classes were set to resume tomorrow and Severus didn't know what he was going to do without her by his side. He was certainly in no mood to see any of those dunderheads. Lately she was the only thing that got him through his day with those maddening children.

Severus looked down at Hermione's still form, caressed her cheek, and placed a small kiss against her lips…just like every morning since she ceased to wake up. She looked so peaceful laying there and he hoped she wasn't in any pain. He couldn't stand it if she was. Severus had wracked his brain for ways to help her, to bring her out of this state of limbo that she was in but came up with nothing. He feared he had lost her forever.

"Hermione, love, it's time to wake up now. You've been gone for much too long. Classes resume tomorrow and I don't know if I can make it through without you. Everyone misses you. I love you," Severus whispered to her just as he did every other morning.

He placed one last kiss on her lips before retreating to his labs to brew up the potions that Hermione would need for the next week. It would only take him a few hours, but it would seem like an eternity for he hated being away from her.

After just three hours he returned to his room, praying to find Hermione awake just like every other time he left the room only to be disappointed once again. His angel was still in the exact same condition that he had left her in. Sighing he administered the potions that would hopefully bring her back to him soon.

He climbed into bed on top of the covers and lied down right next to her still body. Just like every other afternoon, he put on his glasses and began to read to her. This time it was the newest edition of _Most Potente Potions_. Poppy had told him that stimulating her mind could help bring her back into consciousness. At this point he was willing to do anything just to have her back. Even if it meant reading and re-reading the same books he was sure she had already devoured.

He knew she loved reading and he hoped that she could hear him. Knowing her she would be upset that she was missing out on the education she was supposed to be getting. Ever his little know-it-all.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Please be awake for me, Hermione," He said as he put down the book after a full day of reading.

He curled up next to her with his arm wrapped around her waist and fell into yet another deep slumber, hoping that his dreams would once more settle on Hermione.

* * *

Classes began and Severus couldn't concentrate on them knowing that his Hermione was still in bed and for all he knew she wasn't ever going to wake up. He was even more horrible to his classes, punishing them for things they hadn't even done.

"Mr. Smith! You have the gall to make eye contact with me while brewing your potion? 50 points from Hufflepuff!" Severus slid back into his chair and put his head in his hands and exhaled deeply.

He was sure the students had detected the change in his demeanor but he no longer cared. If he couldn't be happy why should they deserve to be? They could spend two miserable hours with him a week as penance for living the life that he so desperately wanted.

It was now approaching March and Hermione wasn't even closer to being awake. January and February had passed with him still being hopeful of Hermione's return. Now he knew it wasn't going to happen. Minerva had suggested moving her to St. Mungo's where she would be more comfortable but he was never going to let that happen. The conversation ended with all of Severus's living room furniture broken and scattered across the room. Minerva hasn't mentioned it since.

He sighed as he stared ahead. The glass of water on his desk that was looking half empty nowadays was cruel in the reflection that it shown back to Severus. He had never seen himself look so horrible. His normally fuller face was now gaunt and his eyes had almost purplish circles underneath them. Poppy had commented once or twice and insisted that he get a better night sleep but he just shrugged her off. What did she know any way? She couldn't even bring Hermione back! Like he was going to take any medical advice from her ever again. He scoffed aloud at the thought before returning his attention to his class.

They all looked so completely frightened. The students were more afraid of him then ever, but at least no cauldrons blew up any more. He had finally achieved the level of fear that he always desired in the students. But none of that mattered because Hermione wasn't by his side. Even the small amount of joy that he used to get of his life had all but disappeared with Hermione. He was lost without her.

He dismissed class early, which had become a habit of his lately and retired, as always, immediately back to his bedroom.

As soon as he opened the door to his chambers he went directly to his bedroom, where Hermione would hopefully be awake and awaiting his return. Even after all of these months of disappointment his heart still sank when he discovered she was still in the same condition.

He miserably approached the bed and lied down next to her. His large hand caressed her rosy cheek ever so gently as he placed his usual kiss on her lips, begging for her to respond. She never did. He placed his arm around her waist and brought his head down to rest on her collarbone.

"How are you today, my Hermione? Today was another miserable day without you." He whispered into her ear. He paused as if to listen to her response. When she didn't say anything back he began to get upset, just as he always did.

"Why won't you wake, love? I need you here, you know that." He pleaded desperately. He was still so lonely without her it caused him excruciating pain.

After a small moment of silence to gather his composure he looked over to his nightstand and saw an overflowing stack of unanswered letters all from the same person. He sighed before continuing his one-sided conversation.

"I still haven't administered the rest of the potion. St. Mungo's owls every day hoping to persuade me to come in. But I can't. Not without you. There's no joy in the task without you there. I can't see other people happy when you aren't with me to make me happy. It's selfish I know, but I couldn't get through it without you." He whispered to her once more.

Three months ago these words would've brought tears to his eyes, but he had no tears left to give anymore. He was horribly depressed and had refused to take meals in the Great Hall and had lost a great amount of weight. His robes were loose around his slowly shrinking form and his scruffy face had gone unshaven for at least a week. Poppy and McGonagall tried to visit with Hermione at least once a week but Severus always told them to get the hell out unless they had a cure.

"I'm a mess without you, love. Can't you see how much everyone needs you here? I love you," he whispered one last time before placing a kiss on her cheek.

With that one last whisper he fell into a deep slumber even though it was only the early afternoon. His dreams were so much better then reality that he lately he spent most of his time asleep at Hermione's side.

* * *

Close to midnight Severus woke once more to his stomach growling, begging for some kind of nourishment. He sighed, he knew he had been neglecting his health lately but he was in no mood to dine with the happy staff members and listen to their happy tales of how perfect their lives were. He no longer wanted to live himself, not if Hermione wasn't going to be with him.

His stomach growled much louder this time so Severus conceded and began to get dressed so he could head down to the kitchens and fix the problem. He would eat just enough food to get more sleep he decided.

With one last kiss to Hermione's forehead, Severus left his chambers and was engulfed by the darkness of the castles' walls.

After tickling the pear and dodging Dobby, the friendliest house-elf, he had Winky fetch him some mince meat pie. Surely this would hold him over.

He took a few bites and decided it was more than enough. Without a single thanks to the house-elves (his normal self was very gracious) he billowed his way back down to the dungeons.

About half way back he heard distinct footsteps up ahead. He snickered to himself. At least this night would prove fruitful in his quest to make the students' lives a living hell. There was nothing he loved more then catching them out after curfew.

With silent steps, well practiced after years as a master spy, he approached his target that was now just a few paces ahead of him. The offending student was tall, which made him believe it was a seventh year. Using his element of surprise just as he was at the student's back he whispered," _Lumos"_.

The light blinded the person for a moment which was long enough for Severus to have him pinned against the wall by the throat.

"Severus, how n-n-nice to f-finally run into y-y-you," Lucius Malfoy was able to choke out as he gasped for air because of the hold on his windpipe.

This infuriated Severus even more, "How have you avoided me for months, Lucius? How is it that the one person that would never leave me alone my entire life suddenly was impossible to find once I went looking?" he said dangerously as he tightened his grip on Lucius's throat even more.

Lucius was sputtering and beginning to turn purple as his air supply was now completely cut off. He was grasping at Severus's hand at his throat desperately trying to remove it.

This just made Severus laugh, "Not so fun is it? How do you like being attacked and completely unable to defend yourself? Maybe I should kill you right now and do the world a favor…" he said as he prodded his wand harshly into Lucius's chest.

Lucius was beginning to stop struggling as he was losing energy.

Severus leaned into whisper harshly into Lucius's ear, "I know it was you. And you will never touch her again. I won't kill you tonight just so you can suffer the public incarceration that you truly deserve. Your blood on my hands isn't worth a trip to Azkaban in your place."

With that he released Lucius and watched him crumble to the floor and gasp for breath. Severus kicked him hard in the stomach three times before spitting on him and continuing his journey down to his chambers.

He had been waiting for that moment since Christmas and Merlin had it felt good. He knew it would only be the beginning of his revenge against Lucius. Now he had to return to Hermione and tell her the good news. Maybe she would be awake to hear it.

He doubted it.

* * *

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thanks for the birthday wishes…it was definitely a crazy good time. Hope you liked the update! A little vengeance for Severus, and well deserved might I say.

Thanks for all the awesome reviews! I love you guys!

Thanks especially to polkadotgirl, glow91, artemis virgin goddess, bharned1, Amer, irritable-grizzly69, sweet-tang-honney, Carol, heidi191976, Amanda n. lupin, wyndnfyr, amorreal, emilyaten, and jessirose85!

Edit: Oooopps! Thanks emilyaten for letting me know about my mistake!


	15. Enlightenment

Sorry this has taken so long for me to update! I took my MCAT's about 2 weeks ago so I was holed up in the library studying and was forced to neglect my writing. But I'm back! Hopefully I can stay more on task now that the dreadful test is over. Thanks for sticking with me! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 15

Enlightenment

May turned into June and still Hermione had not awoken. Although Severus's revenge on Lucius had been sweet, he couldn't wait to serve him more. He couldn't wait until that evil bastard got what he deserved. But for now he was focusing on Hermione.

He had never been so glad to see a school year come to an end. He had never been so miserable in his life, not even when his days were spent living under the rule of two masters. At least he had a purpose then. Now his only purpose for living was Hermione, and she was still in a deep coma with no sign of ever coming out.

Exasperated, Severus wiped his hand across his now extremely gaunt face as he sat next to Hermione in his bed. He hadn't moved from this spot in at least a couple of days. There was no reason for him to leave her side. His appetite was non-existent and he definitely had no desire to see any one else. He was sick of seeing the pitying look in their eyes when they came to visit. No, he couldn't stand the way other people had been treating him these last few months. No one came to visit Hermione any more. The past daily appearances from Minerva and Poppy had all but ceased after being cursed out by him every time.

He didn't need any visitors. He didn't need anyone to look at him and notice how screwed up his life was once again. All he needed was Hermione. Although she wasn't conscious to the world, her lying next to him was the only thing that could bring him happiness in such a dire time.

But there was one visitor that remained constant no matter how often his snarky attitude warned it to stay away.

Severus groaned as he heard the all too familiar scratching at his window.

"Blasted bird! When will it just leave us in peace? Doesn't it know it will get the same response every day no matter how often it comes?" Severus grumbled aloud as he leaned down to place a kiss on Hermione's brow before getting up out of bed.

He made his way to the window where the brave owl was jumping. Sighing, he harshly grabbed the letter from the antsy owl's leg. He already knew what the letter would hold. He wasn't even sure why he still opened the damned things, maybe his sense of obligation was stronger then he originally thought. He still hadn't given them the true reason as to why he refused to administer the potion. The thought of the press getting wind of exactly what happened to Hermione made his gut clench in anger. The less everyone knew the better. He already had the staff of Hogwart's pitying him, he couldn't imagine how he would feel if the entire wizarding world treated him like that. No, he wouldn't allow that to ever happen.

His hands grasped the letter firmly before flipping it over. The familiar seal of St. Mungo's was branded across the back. With another long sigh he ripped open the note, already knowing what it would say. Lately a standard letter had been enclosed. The words were the same every day, reminding him of the fact that Hermione was still in the same condition.

This made his surprise even greater when he began to read the letter. It was very different indeed. Gone was the polite note of yesterday, and in its stead was the almost brutal note in his hands now.

_Dear Professor Severus Snape,_

_As well you know, after so many days of the constant contact that my office has had with you, the patients of my ward in St. Mungo's are still without their potion. The families have all but given up hope that you and Miss Granger will return to help their loved ones. They see Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom fully recovered as they volunteer at the hospital and I believe it is the only thing that remains to give them hope. But I can't say the same. I have no hope that you will come to your senses and deliver my patients from their unconscious states. And for this I am truly saddened._

_I have tried to wrap my head around why you are not willing to help them. I have tried to put myself in your place. I have tried to consider any personal circumstance that you claim wouldn't enable you to deliver the potion and I have come up empty-handed._

_Please, Professor, try to put yourself in the position of my patients' loved ones. Imagine that someone you love was unconscious for years and there was a way to bring them back to life. Wouldn't you do anything to ensure that the Awakening Potion was delivered? _

_My patients do not deserve to be asleep forever because of your personal problems. Think about that, Professor Snape, as you continue to deny them what they need. Their happiness and well-being rest solely on your shoulders._

_Sincerely,_

_Matilda Watson_

_Healer-in-Charge_

_Spell Damage Floor_

Severus dropped the paper and slammed his hand to his forehead. He blatantly ignored the bloody stupid owl prancing around his window waiting for a response as a grin began to slowly slide across his face.

'How could I have been so bloody stupid? How could I have not seen the answer that has been so blatantly in front of me after all this time?' he wondered to himself as he took off for his potions lab.

The Awakening Potion! It could wake Hermione from her coma! That's how why they developed it after all! How had he not thought of this before? He was so overcome with grief and mourning that he never thought to try the potion on her before. He was so forlorn and lost without her that he couldn't even think straight. For whatever reason he had thought that the Awakening Potion wouldn't be able to help her. That it was only for people in long-term comas, not for Hermione who, at the time, had only been unconscious for a short amount of time. He had banished the idea of the Awakening Potion to the recesses of his mind after that thought. How bloody stupid of him! She was a textbook coma case that the Awakening Potion would surely cure.

His heart was beating in his chest as he gathered the appropriate journal from the shelf above his head and slammed it down onto the bench, opening it to the page that he needed. He sprinted around his lab collecting the potion ingredients that were necessary before bringing them back to the lab bench.

Before beginning his work he glanced up to the beautiful vials that Hermione had given to him for Christmas, before the horrible attack. His grin grew wider when his eyes rested on the full vial containing the Awakening Potion.

He tore his eyes away from the vial before beginning to brew the first stages of the Awakening Potion.

It wasn't a complicated potion for him to brew any more. In fact he felt like he could brew it in his sleep. But he couldn't screw this batch up. This batch was for his Hermione after all. Her health and his happiness and sanity rested on the success of this potion.

During a pause in the brewing when the potion was supposed to simmer for an hour he decided to leave his lab and return to Hermione's side.

When he opened the door to his bedroom he took in her still unmoving form. He couldn't suppress the small chuckle of happiness that was released from his chest. He knew this was the last time he would enter his bedroom forlorn. Hermione would be awake and in his arms once again in only a matter of hours if everything went according to plan.

He approached the bed and sat down next to her. His hand reached up to her forehead and pushed the stray wisps of hair away from her lovely face. He couldn't help but smile down at her. In the past few months he hadn't been able to truly look at her, but now he couldn't help but to realize how lovely she still was. How much he was still in love with her. He bent down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before leaving the room once again to return to his labs.

A few more hours of intense brewing later, the potion was finally complete. After he bottled it, he simply set it on the counter and stared at it. As much as he wanted to run into the next room and shove the potion down Hermione's throat he couldn't bring himself to do it.

This was the most hope he'd had since Hermione was attacked so many months ago. But today was different. For the first time since the attack he was filled with hope. Hope that he could bring Hermione back to him. But with that hope also came the chance of failure. He didn't think he would survive if the Awakening Potion failed to wake up his love.

He allowed himself this selfish moment to bask in the hope that the complete potion brought. Before he found out if the potion would work he needed to believe that it would. He needed to have this one moment of happiness before his world could possibly come crashing down even harder than it already had. He needed to rejoice before the moment of truth.

When the anticipation became almost too much to handle Severus decided it was time. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him into his bedroom and knelt down next to Hermione's side.

He caressed her still warm cheek with the back of his hand before kissing her lips one last time. He hated to think that this could possibly be their last kiss.

No, he couldn't think like that.

With careful hands he opened her mouth and poured the potion in, massaging her throat to coerce the potion into her body. Once he was satisfied that she had swallowed it all he took a seat in the chair next to the bed. His hand found hers and he grasped it tight, willing for any sign that she was coming back to consciousness.

He waited in anticipation, almost holding his breath, for the first few minutes. Still nothing happened.

Another thirty minutes went by. He tried to remember how long it had taken for the Longbottom's to come through after he gave them the potion. Surely it hadn't taken this long. But maybe it had, for that was a long time ago. Maybe it just seems longer because it was Hermione who he was waiting on. At least he hoped that was the case.

An hour passed. Severus was pushing back hysterics now. He knew that it hadn't taken this long for the Awakening Potion to take effect in the past. But maybe it was different because she wasn't unconscious for quite as long as they had been. He knew it was a long shot.

Another hour passed.

And another hour.

Severus got up and threw his chair against the wall in frustration. It smashed to pieces and still it wasn't enough to satisfy the frustration that he was feeling. He threw the empty vial in his hands across the room and broke into sobs when he heard it shatter against the far wall.

He sunk down onto the bed so that his upper body was lying across Hermione's stomach. His sobs were escaping his chests in heaves as tears were streaming down his cheeks. His hands curled into the sheets that were covering her torso as he cried out in agony.

"Why? Why couldn't this just work? Why does she have to suffer because of a bloody lunatic? She doesn't deserve such a fate!" Severus screamed into the air, tears still streaming down his face.

His breath was coming in gasps now as he laid his head against her chest, hearing her heart continue to beat.

"Hermione, love, wake up. It's time for you to get up! You've been gone for far long enough now. The potion was supposed to help you," his breath hitched once before he continued," Don't you know that you're supposed to wake up from it? Surely you do, love."

He silently cried for a few more minutes when he realized that she most definitely wasn't going to woke up from the potion. All hope was lost. He didn't know what he was going to do without her.

"I love you, Hermione. Please don't ever forget that," he whispered into her chest before breaking into sobs once more.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sad, I know. :( What's he going to do without her?**

**Love it? Hate it? Let me know with a review!**

**Thanks to my reviewers from last chapter: PiercingArrow, Loyd1989, Glow91, sweet-tang-honney, Pau-0803, profryoko, Heidi191976, jessirose85, polkadot girl, and emilyaten!**


	16. Home at Last

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait but I've been busier than I thought I would be. Plus I encountered a little bit of writer's block :(

But I'm back now and that's what's important. Thanks for sticking around and waiting for the next chapter. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 16

Home at Last

Severus continued to sob on his knees until he couldn't sob any longer. His heart felt like it had broken in two and he knew he couldn't go on without her.

The sobs eventually ceased to come from his chest while he began to formulate a plan of what he was going to do now. The hope that just a few hours ago had settled across his mind was all but gone. He couldn't live without her…this much he knew.

Maybe he could brew some sort of potion that would put him into a coma and he could be with her that way. Or maybe he should just kill himself all together…no one would miss him but her any way.

And she wasn't ever waking up again.

All these thoughts flooded his mind as he decided his fate…the rest of his life without Hermione.

He got up off of his knees and began to pace around the room. He ran his hands through his hair as he tried to think of the best way to off himself. His pacing was interrupted by an angelic voice that he most certainly thought he would never hear again.

"Sev…" a soft, groggy voice muttered.

Severus ran over to where Hermione was laying in bed. He dropped to his knees and took one of her tiny hands into his own and caressed the back of it. He could feel the temperature of her body increase as she started to become more lucid. Color was slowly returning to her face and her eyes were fluttering beneath her lids.

Severus gave a little laugh in disbelief as he sat down next to her on the bed and caressed her cheek with his hand. Tears were forming in his eyes as happiness and joy flooded over him. Her eyes finally opened but blinked close when the light hit them. Clearly she was still sensitive to the light so Severus dimmed the room so she could better adjust.

"Sev…Severus?" the angelic voice said once more.

He bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, "Yes, love, it's me."

Hermione only groaned in response. She tried to open her eyes once again, and this time she was able to keep them almost all the way open. She looked up only to see Severus hunched over her with a look of worry in his eyes.

"Are you in pain?" he asked quietly after she groaned aloud.

She didn't respond but merely gasped out, "Water."

He ran, got a glass full of water, and returned before she realized he had left. As he tilted the glass to her lips and tipped a small amount of water into her open mouth, he held her head up with his hand at the nape of her neck. She was so weak he feared that she would choke on the water otherwise.

She sputtered a bit as the cold water hit the back of her throat, but it sufficiently quenched her thirst.

He placed her head back on the pillow and removed his hand from her neck only to move it to her cheek so he could stroke the soft skin there. He still couldn't believe that she was back!

"Merlin have I missed you, Hermione. I thought you were gone forever," he whispered to her as he nuzzled his head into her neck.

Hermione tried to gather the strength to hold him to her but wasn't able to. So she simply breathed in his familiar scent as he took her into his strong arms. She closed her eyes as he cuddled her against his chest.

Severus embraced her silently for a few minutes, relishing her now conscious body that was once again in his arms after so long.

Hermione was exhausted, but she didn't want to fall asleep in his arms quite yet. She had so many questions to ask him before she would allow slumber to overtake her again.

As Severus continued to hold her she couldn't help but question silently how long she had been out of it. Surely it couldn't have been that long! Christmas was today after all. Even if it was a few more days then that there was no way Severus should be acting like this. She had never seen him so relieved to see her awake. Maybe the man did love her after all.

After a few more minutes of silence, Hermione couldn't take it any more. If she didn't ask her questions now she felt as if she would surely burst.

"Severus?" she asked timidly.

Severus looked down at her before taking her face into his hands, brushing the stray hairs out of her eyes with his thumbs and whispered back, "Yes, love?"

"How long have I been out? Did I miss all of Christmas?" she asked with tears shining in her eyes. She prayed that she didn't miss the entire day's festivities! It was her favorite holiday after all. It would be a shame to have to wait an entire year to celebrate again.

Severus furrowed his brow at her question, dropped her face from his hands, and looked away. He quickly got to his feet and began to pace across the floor at the foot of the bed. How was he supposed to tell her that she had missed out on almost six months of her life? She still believed it was Christmas for Merlin's sake!

Hermione watched him pace back and forth. What could possibly be making him this upset? Surely she couldn't have been out that long…a week at the most. What was he withholding from her?

Hermione exhaled a sigh before whispering, "Just say it. Whatever is wrong just say it."

He immediately stopped pacing and turned to look at her. The ever-present desperation for information was written across her face. Right now she looked slightly upset but still seemingly content to be awake. He couldn't dash her happiness quite yet, it wouldn't be fair.

Hermione was struggling to keep her eyes open now, but she needed to know what he wasn't telling her. Her eyelids became even heavier and she hoped Severus wouldn't notice her exhaustion.

But notice he did.

He walked over to her side of the bed and rested his hand on her forehead and looked down into her eyes. His brow scrunched in concern when he noticed how tired she looked.

He bowed down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before whispering, "Maybe it's time for Poppy to come check you over."

Hermione sighed in frustration before nodding her head in affirmation.

At once Severus left the room to get Poppy.

* * *

"Well you seem to be in fine condition, Hermione! It's great to have you back," Poppy said as she pocketed her wand back into her robes, "Now you'll have to be given strengthening potions every few hours in order to get you back to normal. But besides that, after a few days in bed you should be as good as new."

Severus held back a grin as he gripped Hermione's hand hard in response to the good news. He looked down at her at noticed the content smile that graced her face.

His Hermione would be alright.

Severus left Hermione's side only to escort Poppy back out of his chambers. Just before they got to the door Poppy turned around to Severus and put her hand on his shoulder.

"You're going to have to tell her sooner or later how long she's been away from us and what has transpired since Christmas. It's not my place to inform her. That rests solely with you," she said before nodding her head and turning towards the door, "I know you'll do the right thing, Severus."

With that she left his rooms, leaving behind a stunned Severus.

He knew it had to be done eventually. Maybe there was no time like the present after all.

He turned on his heel and billowed back into his bedroom and found Hermione still awake sitting up in bed.

She looked angelic and much better after her first round of potions. He would have to make sure that she continued to get her potions so that she would make a speedier recovery.

After standing awkwardly and gazing at her for a few minutes, the moment was broken by Hermione waving her hand, gesturing for Severus to join her in bed.

Severus shrugged off his robes and was left in just his white button down and black fitted trousers on. He slowly climbed into the bed next to Hermione and took her into his arms once more. She nestled further into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her even closer. His chin rested on top of her head and he closed his eyes as he breathed in her familiar scent.

His Hermione was indeed back. Not that he believed it.

"Oh, love, how I've missed you," he whispered as he buried his nose into her neck.

She merely hummed back in response, enjoying the moment before she knew it would be shattered.

"Severus….," she whispered against his chest.

"Yes, love?" he answered back, even though he already knew where this conversation was going.

She built up her confidence for a second before asking the same question she had asked before, "How long have I been gone?"

Severus gulped and moved away from her a bit, but still hugged her to his side. He didn't want to frighten her after she had just come back to him, but he couldn't keep this from her without her being even angrier later.

He hesitated.

"Just tell me."

"Just under six months," he blurted out, "Merlin, have I missed you," he whispered and clutched her body to his, preparing himself for her imminent break-down.

Hermione opened her mouth and closed it a few times in disbelief. There was no way it had been that long! This must be some cruel joke that he was playing on her.

She pushed herself away from his body with the small amount of strength that she had left and whispered, "No. There must be some mistake?"

Severus bowed his head in response.

Hermione was stunned for another moment before her anger truly took over, "No! No! It's still Christmas! We're going St. Mungo's in a few hours to save all those people! Why would you lie to me like this?" she yelled as she pulled completely away from him.

He tried to gently bring her back to him but she flailed her arms in response, trying to get him to stay away from her. It hurt him more then she would ever realize.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. I tried everything I could to bring you back, you must believe me. I was lost without you! I spent every hour of every day for six months wishing that you were back with me! And it was my own entire fault you were like that to begin with. If only I had walked you back to your rooms like a gentleman. If only I had never let you leave my side none of this would've happened," he whispered desperately to her.

Tears were now streaming down Hermione's face as she shook her head in disbelief. The events of that night so long ago came rushing back into her mind, bowling her over with emotion.

She was so happy that day! She finally had Severus all to herself and was about to save a handful of patients with a potion they had developed together. She had it all.

Until she insisted on leaving. Until Lucius found her.

She began to sob now as she remembered how he had beaten her. How she had prayed that someone would find her before he raped or killed her. How she didn't know if she would ever see Severus again so soon after finally finding him.

Severus slowly approached her now shaking body that was gasping for air. He reached out his arms and gently wrapped them around her and brought her close into his chest. She grabbed onto his white shirt with clenched fists as she sobbed into his chest.

He rubbed soothing circles on her back and whispered, "I'm so sorry, love. I'm so sorry I wasn't there."

After about twenty minutes her sobbing slowly ebbed into soft hiccups as she fell almost limp from exhaustion in Severus's arms.

She looked up into his eyes from her position in his arms and whispered, "I'm sorry I put you through this. It must have been horrible…"

"Shhhhhh, now love," he hushed her, "None of that matters. You're here now. Safe again. Nothing else matters, just let me hold you," he whispered as he planted a soft kiss on her lips.

He rocked her in his arms gently until she fell asleep.

Eventually sleep overtook him as well. But tonight would be different from every night of the last six months. For tonight he would have the most pleasant dreams.

* * *

**A/N: Whewwww! I was going to combine the next chapter with this one but it ended up being much too long. Expect that one hopefully by this weekend though (maybe even tomorrow if you guys are nice to me!)**

**Thanks always to my lovely reviewers from last chapter: LovingmyDoctor (thanks for that extra push to update!), Snarky Snape, emilyaten, unimaginative lot, jessirose85, Heidi191976, cheese, loyd1989, sweettanghonney, Megan Consoer, LadyDragon90, forever-heartbroken, violchick26, MrsEdwardCullen13, and polkdot girl!**

**You guys rock! Keep the reviews coming because they're the only things that keep me going!**


	17. Angry Answers

Yayyy for quick updates! And because I've been such a slacker in the past…

Anyways here's a new chapter for all of you! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 17

Angry Answers

A few days had passed since Hermione had finally regained consciousness. Severus had been on cloud nine since it happened and was actually whistling while he worked in his labs. He never whistled while he worked- that was for certain. He regretfully had to leave Hermione behind for a few minutes alone in his rooms in order to brew the potions she would need for the upcoming week. Poppy would have his head if he didn't get this done today! Her health came before everything else after all.

Back in Severus's bedroom, Hermione was trying to doze while she waited for Severus to return to her side. She understood completely that he had to brew potions for her, but she just wished it wouldn't take this long. It was lonely without him by her side- even if it was for only a few hours.

Hermione heard scratching on the window near her head and wondered what it could be. As she turned around to look, she found a little owl with a letter wrapped around its leg hopping around on the window sill. She had seen this same particular bird come every day for the last couple days but was never able to receive its letter herself for Severus had always been in the room. Usually he just blasted this particular letter to smithereens and then rejoined her on the bed.

She knew that she shouldn't betray his trust by receiving the letter and reading it, but her Gryffindor curiosity got the better of her. Her arm reached as far as it could without her having to get off the bed. It was just a tad too far away, but the owl helped her by pushing the window open and offering its leg to her outstretched and shaking hand. After shooing the owl away she looked at the letter in her hands. It had an official seal and was addressed to Severus, just as she suspected.

She looked around the room to make sure Severus still wasn't present and carefully looked back to the letter in her shaky hands. With only a moment's hesitation she opened the letter and found a distressing note from St. Mungo's.

_Dear Professor Severus Snape,_

_Once again I have found myself trying, unsuccessfully, to contact Miss Granger and yourself. It has been six months since you promised to arrive at my ward with your Awakening Potion and still you haven't shown._

_There no longer is any reason why you should not have delivered the cure to my patients. Any personal matter or vendetta needs to be set aside so that my patients can return to their families and their lives. They deserve better than this. They deserve to walk free just as you and I walk free today._

_Mr. and Mrs. Longbottom have all but lost hope that you will come and for this they are saddened that they were the only ones you were willing to help. _

_You should be ashamed of yourself, Professor, for holding the consciousness of my patients ransom for whatever reason you deem acceptable._

_I hope to hear back with your response, although I'm not sure that I ever will._

_Regards,_

_Matilda Watson_

_Healer-In-Charge_

_Spell Damage Floor_

Hermione dropped the paper from her hands in utter shock. She couldn't believe that the man she loved would do something as cruel as withhold a cure from people in need.

Why had he waited months and refused to give the potions to these poor people? It was supposed to be their Christmas present from them, and here it was already July and all of them were still unconscious!

Hermione was enraged by his actions. Never did she think him cruel enough to withhold something like this. Sure he had done some horrible things in his lifetime, as had she, but not something like this. Not something completely under his own control! She couldn't believe that the potion was never administered!

She huffed in anger and her breathing increased. If she was able to muster the energy to even move out of bed then she would've run away from his rooms forever. She couldn't be with someone so cruel! She knew misery liked company, but to do this to innocent people was just wrong.

Why hadn't he administered it though? There had to be an underlying reason! Did he want more money from the hospital? Was he blackmailing someone in the ward or the hospital itself? Or maybe he was just proving to everyone how much of a bastard he really was!

Just as she was mulling these questions over, the man himself walked in.

She was fuming! Her face was red with anger and her arms were crossed over her chest with the letter clenched tightly in one hand.

Severus noticed something was off about her, but he blew it off, deciding that she was just angry because she was stuck in bed for so long. He couldn't blame her really. With the freshly brewed Strengthening Potion in hand, he moved closer to her in order to deliver it but she merely flipped on her side away from him.

A little peeved now he questions, "What's wrong? Why won't you take the potion? I swear I didn't do anything to it, it should even taste better than the last batch."

She ignores him, still fuming but deciding that the silent treatment was better than blowing up at him right now. She simply didn't have the energy.

"Hermione…."he said as he reached out a hand to her shoulder, but she simply flipped over again.

"Love, take the potion," Severus said a little louder now as he reached for her again, only to have her shift to the middle of the bed and out of his reach.

He exhales angrily now and simply stands by the side of the bed and says even louder, "What's wrong now? Is my care not good enough for you?"

Again she ignores him.

He begins to get even angrier now and slams the vial down onto the dresser, shattering it all over the place, before flipping her over to confront her.

What he saw absolutely shocked him. She was terrified of him.

He found tears swimming in her eyes. Had he terrified her that badly? How much more of a monster could he be? Scaring the only one he loves until she is afraid of his touch. Of course she's afraid! To her it was only yesterday that some man tortured her into a coma.

He went out to take her in his arms but she merely rolled against him.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly this time hoping that she would finally respond if he was kind.

"How could you?" she whispered back with tears rolling down her cheeks as she was shaking with anger.

He was at a loss for what she was talking about until she slammed the letter from St. Mungo's into his chest.

As he peeled off the parchment that was stuck to the front of his robes, he didn't even have to look at the broken seal to know that it was from St. Mungo's. How stupid he had been for leaving her alone when that bloody letter arrived at the same time every day.

He was sure the letter said something awful too, for what else would've made Hermione this upset. His heart broke once he read the letter himself. He never got the chance to explain what had happened with their potion.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry. You have to let me explain…" he said as he threw the parchment to the ground.

She shook her head furiously in response as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. She had to get away from him! He was a monster for not helping those people! She couldn't even stand the sight of him.

As her feet hit the ground she placed her weight on them before she began to crumble to the ground in her weakened state. Before her face could hit the floor she felt strong arms gather her around her waist.

She began to sob now. She couldn't even get away from him!

He turned her body in his arms so that she was now supported by his chest. He held her as she sobbed and screamed out angrily against him, trying to injure him in any way possible. He knew he had done a horrible thing by not helping those people. He knew Hermione would never forgive him for being so selfish.

Hermione beat her fists into his broad chest as hard as she could, which was admittedly not doing the intended amount of damage.

She was yelling and sobbing, "How could you deny these people their happiness? What could you have possibly gotten from them? More money? More fame? What? Tell me! Did you have some sort of feud with this Watson lady while I was gone? What could be more important than helping them? What, Severus, what?"

Severus was absolutely gob smacked. It never crossed his mind that Hermione thought he would withhold the potion for reasons other than because of her. It saddened him to think that she would believe he wouldn't administer the potion for monetary or spiteful reasons.

But her reaction made much more sense now.

With this last thought Severus sat down on the bed and cradled her to his chest as her fists stopped beating him but rather fisted into the front of his robes as she continued to sob.

"Hermione, love, none of that is true. I just…." He trailed off as the truth got stuck in his throat.

"What could've been more important than giving those people the gift of life? Why did you hold it ransom, as some forbidden fruit that only you had control over? The people were begging for you to help them and all you did was refuse them," Hermione now hiccupped into his chest. She was completely worn out after her outburst from before and could no longer yell at him as she wished to.

Severus remained silent as he tried to unsuccessfully get out the truth.

"Was life without me really that horrible, Severus? So horrible that you couldn't finish what we started?" Hermione whispered as tears continued to leak down her beautiful face.

There was a moment of silence before Severus took her face into his hands and wiped away her tears with his thumbs.

"None of what you accuse me of is true. I would've loved to see those people awake…to see their families happy. But…"he whispered back before breaking eye contact.

"You can tell me, love," Hermione whispered back.

"I just couldn't do it without you" he muttered quietly.

This made even more tears leak down Hermione's face. His reason was because of her!

He continued to wipe the tears away with his thumbs before placing a kiss on her lips.

"When you were gone, you have to understand, I was lost. I could barely function enough to get through my day, let alone leave your side long enough to help those people. I was a walking dead man. I was a right bastard to everyone and chased away anyone who even tried to enter this room. Eventually everyone stopped visiting and I was happy. I was happy because I finally got to mourn you by myself without anyone to pity me. I missed you so much it began to eat away my soul. But that's not the only reason why I didn't do it," he paused for a moment to regain himself before continuing, "I didn't do it because I knew you wouldn't be there to see their reactions. You wouldn't see the life come back into the patients' eyes because of something you invented. I didn't want you to miss out on that," he paused again, "Lastly, I didn't do it because _I_ wouldn't get to see the reaction you would've had. For your reaction alone would've made it all worth it for me. Seeing the way your eyes surely would have lit up and to have you turn around and jump up and down with excitement would've made all my hard-work worth it."

This time she reached up and kissed him on the lips. They had never really talked about how he had spent his time without her. She had assumed it was extremely difficult but she had no idea. She would forgive him for withholding the potion for it was all because of her. It was all because he loved her so much.

He broke the kiss only to whisper across her plump lips, "It was all for you, love, you must know that."

After a lengthy kiss that took both of their breaths away, Hermione pulled away only to lie back in his arms and whispered, "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Severus. I don't know what I was thinking. I never even thought about how this whole thing would affect you. I'm sorry for being so selfish, for not realizing what you went through when I was gone. I love you."

He had been waiting to hear those words from her mouth for so long. He had never been happier in his entire life than he was in this moment.

"I love you too," he whispered back.

After holding each other for a few minutes Severus said, "How about we go deliver the potion tomorrow? I still have the stocks ready and there's no reason to delay. You should be strong enough by then."

She kissed him again and squealed back, "That would be perfect! Send them a letter and let them know we'll be there in the morning! What a wonderful idea, love!"

Severus placed one last kiss on her brow before disentangling himself from her body and heading for the door.

He made it to his desk and pulled out a piece of parchment and a quill before penning the letter.

_Dear Healer Matilda Watson,_

_I sincerely apologize for my long overdue presence on your ward with the Awakening Potion. There was an emergency situation that just recently became resolved which explains my untimely absence._

_My apprentice, Miss Hermione Granger, and I will arrive at 10AM sharp tomorrow morning. This should sufficiently allow you enough time to gather family members and press for the official administration of the Awakening Potion._

_Sorry again for the delay and we will see you tomorrow._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Severus Snape_

_Master of Potions_

_Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

He looked over the parchment for a second before deeming it worthy to send. After strapping the letter to his owl's leg and sending it off he returned back to his bedroom only to find Hermione already fast asleep.

He shrugged off his robes and down to his satin boxers before climbing into bed next to his slumbering princess.

Gathering her in his arms to prepare for a long night's sleep he whispered, "Sleep tight, my love, for we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Wow! That chapter came to me pretty quickly! Lucky for you guys. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. **

**Review to keep me as motivated as I am now! There are lots of twists and turns still to come!**

**Thanks especially to my reviewers from last chapter: HarryPGinnyW4eva, loyd1989, sweet-tang-honney, and GothicaMay**


	18. Joy

Sorry once again that this took so long to put up…life got in the way. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 18

Joy

"Today's the day! It's time to wake up, Sev," Hermione whispered into Severus's ear as her body lied across his.

With his eyes still closed he answered Hermione's wake-up call with a little moan and a gentle kiss on his beloved's lips.

Hermione giggled as she pulled her face away from his, "We don't have time for that this morning, love. It's time to finally finish our work."

She pulled all the way away from him and lifted the covers back before swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She was about to stand but was interrupted by a certain velvety voice behind her.

"Are you sure it's wise to be exerting yourself so much so soon? We could always push the administration back a few days," Severus said as he sat up in bed and looked over to where she was still sitting on the edge of the mattress.

Hermione sighed loudly before answering back, "Severus, don't worry. I'm fine."

Before she could even attempt to struggle to her feet once more, Severus was squatting down in front of her and holding her hands in his. He began to meticulously check her vitals and magic levels before sighing and dropping her hands.

"You're not as strong as I would've hoped. We'll only go on one condition…" he said before waiting for her to nod in agreement before he continued, "…that you take a strengthening potion before we leave."

Hermione nodded once more before bringing her hand up to Severus's cheek and placing a firm kiss on his lips.

After a dose of strengthening potion, showers, and breakfast, the couple was ready to head over to St. Mungo's with the Awakening Potion in tow.

As they walked through the gates of Hogwart's and down the path to the apparition point, Severus held Hermione's hand in his. Just before getting to their intended destination, he stopped her by gripping her upper arm.

Severus looked down at Hermione before dropping her arm and saying, "Before we leave, you must know a few things."

Hermione looked puzzled as he continued.

"Healer Watson has informed me that the press and paparazzi have been camping outside the hospital for the past couple weeks waiting for our arrival. They are going to be ruthless in their questioning and will do just about anything for a picture of us together. Are you sure you still want to go through with this?" he asked.

"Of course. I know things have gotten out-of-hand at St. Mungo's when it comes to the press, but I'm prepared. Let's just do this, alright?" she said as she gripped his hand once more.

He nodded a few times before welcoming her into his arms. With a tight squeeze and a quiet 'pop' the two disappeared and headed to St. Mungo's to administer the Awakening Potion.

* * *

As soon as the couple arrived just outside the doors to the hospital, they were blinded by camera flashes. They had landed in a complete mob-scene!

Reporters were pushing each other and yelling questions while the photographers were clicking their cameras over and over to get the best picture of them as possible.

Hermione was scared! Sure she had known there would be some members of the media waiting for them, but she never could have imagined the crowd of hundreds that was now grabbing at her outside the hospital.

Slowly the media mob began to close in tightly on Hermione and Severus, which caused Hermione to become even more uneasy. She reached out into the air, looking desperately for Severus's hand to hold onto.

Severus's sight was blinded by the flashes and was nervous when he couldn't find Hermione.

"Hermione?" he shouted out into the crowd where they had become separated.

He heard no response over the shouts of the reporters. Until finally he felt her hand slip into his. With a sigh of relief, he put his arm around her shoulders and brought her deep into his chest to keep her safe from the prying media.

Severus tightened his squeeze on Hermione as he began to walk forward, all the while shielding his and Hermione's faces with his other hand.

But apparently them moving caused even more chaos to ensue amongst the paparazzi, for they began to click their cameras and ask questions even faster:

"Professor! Will the Awakening Potion really work?"

"Miss Granger, where is the rest of the Golden Trio?"

"How many patients do you expect to cure?"

"Professor! What are your plans for your next big discovery?"

"Professor!"

"Miss Granger! Look over here!"

"Professor! Just one shot! Professor wait!"

"Miss Granger!"

"Professor!"

Neither Severus nor Hermione dignified any of these questions with a response. Their only goal right now was to make it through the doors and into St. Mungo's unscathed. Severus snarled at the reporters one last time before guiding Hermione in front of him and opening the door to allow them inside.

Once inside, Severus turned Hermione in his arms so she was now face-to-face with him.

As he looked her over for any signs of exhaustion or injury he asked, "Are you alright? Merlin I could kill every last one of those bastards out there! What right do they have swarming us like that?"

Hermione shushed Severus before saying, "I'm fine. That crowd was mad! Looks like we haven't made too many friends since we've been gone."

Severus grunted in response before dropping his arms from around Hermione.

Together they walked a bit down the hospital's foyer before running into Healer Matilda Watson and Frank and Alice Longbottom.

With a shake of each of their hands Healer Watson welcomed them back to the hospital.

"I'm so sorry we've been missing for so long. Really it's my entire fault…" Hermione said as she shook the healer's hand.

"Nonsense! What's done is done. There's nothing left to talk about, you're here now and that's all that matters," Healer Watson smiled in return.

"Thank Merlin! I agree and so does Professor Snape I'm sure. Right, Professor?" Hermione asked as she turned towards him.

But he could give no answer because he was too shocked by what he saw in front of him.

"Professor? Is something wrong?" Hermione whispered as she nudged an elbow into his side to break him from his reverie.

"Oh! Uh….yes…yes, I do agree with you both," he stuttered out before approaching Frank and Alice slowly, "They are doing better then I could've ever anticipated. Merlin…this Awakening Potion really is a miracle," he whispered aloud more to himself then anyone else.

Frank Longbottom broke Severus's trance by grasping the professor's hand in a firm grip and giving it a hearty shake.

"Severus, I can't thank you enough for what you've done for my family and me. Our lives have never been better! We feel like we could run a marathon! And we finally get to be with our Neville and his family," Frank got a little choked up before continuing, "You and Miss Granger are truly miracle workers, and for that we thank you with everything we have."

Alice took this opportunity to put her arms around Hermione and pulled her into a tight hug.

With tears evident in the sound of her voice Alice said, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Once she released Hermione she went to try to pull Severus in a hug just like she did Hermione but was stopped when she saw how stern the man was looking at her.

With crossed arms Severus said to her, "Your gratitude is enough, Mrs. Longbottom. There's no need for any hugging, I assure you."

Alice blushed a little in embarrassment before she ran back to her husband and grabbed his hand to pull him close.

Hermione rolled her eyes at Severus and tightly grabbed his hand in hers before Healer Watson gestured for the group to follow her to the elevators.

While they were in the elevator, Healer Watson turned to the group and said, "Now I must warn you all. The families of our patients have been waiting for months for this potion to be administered. I can't promise you that they'll be happy you're here or upset because you've been withholding the potion for so long. But one thing is for certain, this is, for many of the family members, their last chance at any sort of hope for a cure. Do try to be sensitive to this fact and treat them respectfully no matter what they might say to you?" Healer Watson said while staring mainly at Severus.

The entire group nodded in response, including Severus.

They continued up to their intended floor holding hands tightly as they anticipated how angry the family members would be after seeing how angry and out-of-control the paparazzi was.

But they had nothing to worry about once they stepped off the elevator and onto the floor.

The mood of the room was filled with hope and excitement, not a trace of anger could be found. Family members were shaking hands with Severus, only after his many refusals of hugs, and giving Hermione warm hugs and kisses on the cheeks. "Thank you!" was heard many times as the family members were overjoyed to see the duo with the Awakening Potion in tow. Not a single word was uttered about the six months they had spent missing.

'Thank Merlin for that,' Severus thought to himself. He didn't know if Hermione could take the events of that night coming up in conversation right now.

With their chests filled with pride and one shared look between Severus and Hermione, they continued onto the first room…followed by most of the remaining people on the floor.

Once they enter the room of the first patient, Severus and Hermione headed over to a table on the opposite side of the room to measure out the correct doses of the Awakening Potion that they would need.

As they pulled the vials out of the satchel, Severus saw Hermione's hand shaking in nervousness, "Don't worry, you'll be great."

She smiled shyly at him before whispering so only he could hear, "It's not _that_ I'm worried about. I know the potion will work. It's just…"

Severus frowned as he realized what she was saying, "You're worried that they might ask questions as to why we were gone?"

Hermione nodded her head in response before adding, "I don't know if I want the whole Wizarding World to know what happened to me, you know?"

Severus cleared his throat and took her hand in his to ease the shaking before whispering back, "Then they will never know. Don't worry about this, nothing needs to be said about what happened. If they want answers they can come see me."

Hermione giggled a little, once more at ease, before setting back to work.

The hopeful family of the patient clutched hands and held their breath as Hermione poured the first half of the Awakening Potion down his waiting throat.

Just as expected, nothing happened. This made the family visibly nervous, she could tell.

Immediately after Hermione stepped away, Severus coerced his half of the Awakening Potion into the patient's mouth.

The couple backed up and briefly touched hands as they waited on bated breath for something to happen.

After a few minutes, Severus and Hermione began to get nervous when the potion still had no effect. Hermione glanced at the patient's wife who was now on the verge of becoming hysterical and couldn't help but to become more anxious herself.

Severus was clearly holding his breath, praying to whatever gods were out there that this potion would work. He had withheld it for much to long for it not to live up to its hype now.

Then the first sign of consciousness ensued as the patient's breathing pattern became varied and his eye's moved rapidly beneath his lids.

As the patient's eyes began to flutter open the patient said, "Mary? Why are you crying?" to the woman that was now sobbing and gripping onto his arm. He embraced his wife as she sobbed.

The big crowd or people broke into applause as Hermione jumped up and down in pure excitement before jumping into Severus's arms to hug him.

"We did it! This is going to work! Oh Merlin, Severus!" she whispered into his ear as he held onto her tightly.

"Yes, we did," he whispered back before setting her on the ground.

He looked into her eyes and couldn't help but feel satisfied, for this was the response he had waited six months to see.

After a few moments he turned away from Hermione and announced to the group, "We have enough of the Awakening Potion to cure every patient in this ward."

This made the crowd burst with excitement and joy.

Severus looked over the crowd and waited for the shouting to die down before adding, "Let's begin, shall we?"

* * *

After about 50 patients were administered the potion and immediately woken up, the wing was just about the happiest place on earth. There were people sobbing in pure joy and laughter filled the air.

Severus and Hermione stood on the outskirts of the celebration, taking in the joy that they had created together.

Hermione leaned back against Severus's chest who immediately wrapped his arms around her. "We really did it," Hermione whispers.

Severus placed a kiss on the crown of her head in response before whispering back, "Did you really have any doubts?"

At this point Matilda Watson walked up and interrupted the couple, causing them to jump apart.

"I could never thank you enough for what you have done for the patients of my ward. I have to say, I had my doubts that you two would ever deliver the potion, but deliver it you did. This has to be one of the biggest medical break-through's of this century! Because of the success of the Awakening Potion, the media has some questions for you both. Therefore, you have a press conference right outside the hospital in 10 minutes time," Healer Watson said before walking away to leave the couple alone once more.

Once she left Hermione immediately turned to Severus with terror in her eyes and whispered, "She can't be serious! They're going to eat us alive out there! They're going to demand to know about our disappearance! I can't do this, Severus, I just can't."

Severus took Hermione's face in his hand before saying back, "Everything will be fine. We can choose not to comment on any question they ask. I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Hermione nodded back, slightly more at east, before grabbing his hand as they headed towards the elevators once more in order to get to the press conference that was happening just outside the hospital doors.

* * *

Once they step foot outside the hospital doors, the blinding flashes of hundreds of cameras and shouting of various questions erupted from the crowd in front of them. The sheer size of the crowd had about doubled since the couple was last outside four hours ago.

The chaos around them got even more intense once they took their place behind the podium. Once they were standing there, Severus's fingers ventured out for Hermione's hand for a bit of comfort.

Next to them stood a man who was choosing reporters one at a time to ask questions. This clearly was the ministry's poor attempt at maintaining some sort of order in the crowd.

The questions were fired rapidly at Hermione and Severus, barely giving them enough time to answer before the next question was asked.

"Did the potion work?"

Severus used his best 'teacher's voice' to instill some sort of fear in the crowd before answering, "Yes, the Awakening Potion is a success."

The crowd broke out into a roar of applause and cheering.

"How many people were cured?"

"About 50," he answered.

"Will there be a patent out soon?"

"Yes, look for our journal article which should be coming out in a few months' time."

"When will the Awakening Potion be available to the public?"

"As soon as the patent is ready."

Severus looked down once at Hermione and smirked before going back to the questioning.

"Are you and Miss Granger working well together?" one cheeky gentleman asked.

Severus smirked before answering, "Yes, she is a brilliant researcher after all."

The crowd gave a collective chuckle as Hermione blushed. Clearly her reputation preceded her.

And then they heard the familiar velvety smooth voice that they had been dreading most.

Lucius Malfoy emerged from the depths of the crowd and asked, "This question is for Miss Granger. Tell me, are you prepared to repeat the events of Christmas Eve?"

Hermione immediately tensed up and tightened her hand around Severus's in a death grip beneath the podium. Severus looked down towards Hermione and saw the terror in her eyes.

At first Severus was confused by why she was so suddenly acting absolutely terrified. Until he considered the question Lucius asked. Maybe she finally remembered who attacked her!

He whispers down to Hermione's ear, "It was him, wasn't it? Do you remember?"

Hermione let one tear slip down her cheek before looking down and nodding once.

"Hmm…no answer, Miss Granger? What a pity. Well then, this next question is for Professor Snape," he said cruelly, "_Professor _Snape, you never mentioned to the press the real reason you wouldn't administer the Awakening Potion for over six months. Did it have anything to do with the ravishing woman standing next to you?"

* * *

**A/N:**

**Uh oh! What is Severus going to do to Lucius? Will he publicly kill him? Or torture him later on? **

**Sorry it's been so long, but thanks for sticking around my faithful readers!**

**Thanks to the reviewers from last chapter especially: Prissz, PiercingArrow, Loyd1989, Unimaginative Lot, HarryPGinnyW4eva, Padfootsgrl79, sweet-tang-honney, and Ladydragon90!**


	19. Remembering

Well…I didn't quite get the response that I was looking for from last chapter. I had tons of hits but only 5 reviews! That's kind of pathetic! It's mostly my fault for not updating in so long, I do realize that, but I can't help but be disappointed.

So I've decided to update more often, in hopes that more readers will be compelled to submit a review in exchange for my hard work.

I still love all of you guys though! So here's the next chapter of Wicked Intentions for you! Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 19

Remembering

With everything Severus had in him, he wanted to jump into the crowd and kill Lucius with his bare hands, but there were too many witnesses and cameras around to do anything but snarl back at him. That bastard had almost destroyed the one thing he treasured most in this world. And for that he would pay. When the time was right. Not now.

Severus could feel the anger and hatred boiling in his veins. He wasn't sure what almighty force held him behind the podium and kept him from leaping off the stage, but he thanked the gods for it. It wouldn't do for him to lose it and kill Lucius with hundreds of people around.

There would be a time and place for that.

Hermione was almost in shambles next to him, and the media was beginning to notice the tension between the three people. At once, the cameras started clicking faster at him, Hermione, and Lucius, trying to get the most controversial shot to feed to their respective newspapers.

Great. He could already picture tomorrow's Daily Prophet headline…. "Lucius Malfoy Scares the Daylights Out of Hermione Granger. What Really Happened on Christmas Eve? Full details on page 9."

And of course this is exactly would Lucius wanted when he showed up here today, and Severus knew it.

He couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose to quell his rage while his other hand still firmly held Hermione's.

As he continued to let Hermione clutch his hand while she unsuccessfully tried to hold back any more tears from streaming down her face, he couldn't help but let out an audible growl before stating in his best teacher voice, "This press conference is over."

He waited for people to begin to leave but they remained in place, staring back for a moment before resuming the clicking and flashing of their cameras.

Now completely aggravated he yelled loudly, "Disperse!"

The effect was immediate. The crowd of media began quickly packing up their things and leaving. Skittering away as fast as their disgusting little legs could take them.

But one person remained, staring back at the couple with a look of accomplishment smeared across his face. Lucius Malfoy was not about to miss out on a chance to prod Severus's anger. The more of a reaction he got the better, as far as he was concerned.

Severus sighed before putting his arm around Hermione's shoulders and ushering her back inside. After he guided her through the door, he chanced a look back and found Lucius still standing in the now almost empty street outside the hospital.

If looks could kill, Lucius would've been dead in his tracks. Surely no one had ever seen Severus Snape this visibly enraged, not even during his days as a Death Eater.

Lucius returned the sentiment in full, except with a smug smirk plastered across his pristine face.

"That smug bastard will pay," Severus muttered under his breath before opening the door once again to join Hermione inside the hospital.

Once inside, he saw Hermione standing alone facing the wall so that no one would see the struggle that she was going through.

'Stubborn Gryffindor,' Severus thought before making his way over to her and slowly sliding his arm back around her shoulders, so as to not startle her.

Hermione looked up at Severus and he knew at once that they had to leave….and soon. Hermione's breathing was beginning to come in gasps and her body began to tremble as she was using all of her remaining strength to stop the sobs that were now threatening her composure.

Seeing that Hermione was going to break-down in full out sobs in a matter of minutes, he made his excuses to Healer Watson before flooing back to his chambers at Hogwart's with Hermione pressed firmly against his chest.

* * *

After a quick trip through the floo, Severus stepped through the fireplace with Hermione leaning against him for support.

She finally broke out into full sobs as her knees went weak and she began to collapse to the ground.

Sensing that she was falling from his grasp, Severus hoisted her up into his arms and brought her into his bedroom. After taking a seat on the edge of the mattress, he pulled her tighter to his chest and began rubbing soothing circles on her back as sobs were pulled deep from within her chest.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he whispered once her sobs began to settle down.

Hermione shook her head into his shoulder in response before whispering, "It's not your fault. Never blame yourself for what he did."

Severus placed his hand under her chin and pulled her face away from his shoulder.

She looked terrible. Her eyes were puffy and red and her hair was completely mussed.

But she had never looked lovelier to him.

He leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before settling his forehead gently against hers.

After a moment or two, Hermione turned back to his shoulder and wiped it with her hand saying, "I'm sorry. I've ruined your jacket with all of my blubbering."

This caused him to crack a small smile before teasing back, "I didn't like the jacket that much any way."

She too smiled the tiniest of smiles at his retort. He was glad to see her smiling again. Merlin, he would have done anything to see her smile again after this afternoon.

The couple sat in silence a few moments as Severus rocked Hermione is his arms as he was now positioned leaning against the headboard of his bed.

"What really happened Christmas Eve?" he whispered into her hair.

She squirmed a little before burying her face deep into his shoulder once more.

He cleared his throat awkwardly once before he continued, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I thought it might help to talk about it…" he trailed off.

Hermione sighed once before turning her head to face his again and whispered, "It's not that I don't want to tell you what happened. I just don't want you blaming yourself for what Lucius did."

"Hermione, I…" Severus said quickly before he was cut off by Hermione.

"And don't say that it's your fault. I know you Severus Snape. You think everything that goes wrong is because of you," she stopped once to compose herself, "But this horrible thing happened despite anything you could've done to stop it."

Now extremely hurt Severus quietly retorted, "I shouldn't have let you leave by yourself…"

He was cut off once again when Hermione placed a finger to his lips to silence him.

"No. If he didn't attack me that night it would've been the next," Hermione sighed before whispering, "Please don't blame yourself."

Severus nodded twice before kissing the top of her head. There was no need to fight over something neither of them could change. But it didn't make it any less his fault that she was attacked.

"Do you really want to hear this story?" she whispered to him.

Severus nodded hesitantly once, allowing her to begin the tale.

Letting out a long breath, Hermione began to recall what happened that night. How Lucius attacked her just meters from either of their bedrooms. How blood was everywhere and the pain she felt. How he disposed of her in the corner when Minerva walked by. How she didn't think she was going to make it to Severus's door before she died.

With tears streaming once more down her face she whispered, "I couldn't remember much of the attack until I saw him today. I wasn't sure who had done it until he began to speak. All of the memories came rushing back and I was overwhelmed. I'm so sorry for putting you in that situation…"

"Don't," Severus said with a thick voice full of emotion as he paused to compose himself a moment, "Don't ever apologize for what that bastard did to you or how you feel because of it."

He pulled her closer into his chest now before dropping another kiss on the crown of her head.

"I will make him pay for what he has done to you…to us. I won't let him get away with this. Mark my words," he whispered dangerously.

She nodded in thanks before leaving the room silent once more.

"You don't have to do this if it's too painful, but I think we should collect a few of your memories for evidence in order to start a case against him," he whispered hesitantly.

She nodded once more and sat up.

Severus pulled out his wand, summoned his pensieve, and placed the tip of the wood to Hermione's temple.

"Think hard about the events of that night. This will only take a minute," he whispered as she closed her eyes.

Once the silvery memory was pulled from her mind and dispensed into the pensieve, Severus gathered her into his chest once more before lulling them both to sleep for the night.

It had been an extremely long and exhausting day for both of them.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning Severus, woke to the soft snores coming from Hermione. He decided to let her sleep more after the day she went through yesterday. After placing a kiss on her forehead, he changed, collected the pensieve and headed out of his chambers.

The walk to the headmistress's office had been a short one, but Severus was nervous nonetheless. What would she think when she saw the contents of the pensieve? Would she blame him as much as he blamed himself? Would she even believe that this is what actually happened?

Everything rested on her reaction.

"If she doesn't believe us, I'll just have to take matters in my own hands," Severus muttered dangerously to himself as the spiral staircase took him to the top office.

Magically the door opened and he walked in to find Minerva sitting behind her desk.

"What can I help you with today, Severus? How did St. Mungo's go yesterday?" She asked him.

He cleared his throat before saying, "Not exactly as planned."

"Oh dear! Please take a seat and tell me everything," she said while clucking over him.

Severus sighed as he gracefully sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"Lucius Malfoy made an appearance," he whispered.

She continued to stare at him, waiting for him to continue before realizing he wasn't going to so she said, "And?"

"And he jogged Hermione's memories of what happened on Christmas Eve," he said.

"Did you bring the memories with you?" Minerva asked hopefully.

"Of course," he said as he placed the pensieve on the desk in front of him.

After a moment of watching the memory alone, she is shocked by what she saw.

Minerva reached across the desk to grab Severus's hands before saying, "I know she means a great deal to you," Severus tried to interrupt her before she cuts him off with a stern look, "And don't you try to deny it! I see the way you look at each other, just as everyone else in the wizarding world sees it too."

Severus looked ashamed; he hadn't realized how obvious their relationship had actually become.

"Now, you don't need to worry about a thing. With this evidence he _will_ be brought to justice," she finished before letting go of his hand.

Severus nodded in thanks and headed out.

McGonagall stopped him before he completely left and said, "One more thing, Severus."

"Yes, Minerva?" he said as he whipped his head around to face her.

"The ministry is insisting on throwing you and Miss Granger a ball at Hogwart's in honor of your outstanding achievements since school is out for the summer holiday. It will be next Saturday. Dress your best and please inform Miss Granger for me," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

Severus sighed before leaving, 'That blasted twinkle!' he thought as he slammed her door shut.

Once Severus was gone, Dumbledore and McGonagall share a knowing smirk. This would be an interesting ball indeed.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Ok well that's all for now! What should happen at the ball? Will Lucius reappear? Who knows!**

**Thanks to my reviewers from last chapter…you're my life-savers! Especially, Prissz, Glow91, sweet-tang-honney, jessirose85, and padfootsgrl79.**

**Please please please leave a review! Otherwise I'll sick Lucius after you!**


	20. Old Friends

Back again! Trying to keep good on my promises to all of you. Still a tad disappointed in the lack of reviews. But I'm determined to win your love back! Here's another chapter….I hope you like it. Enjoy and Happy Reading!

Chapter 20

Old Friends

'Bloody hell,' Severus thought as he swept his way back to the dungeons, 'A ball? What was the Ministry thinking? Of course they had to go and tarnish my most exceptional discovery yet with a bloody ball in my honor. Only silly schoolgirls want to attend balls for Merlin's sake!'

As he huffed his way through the door of his chambers and into his bedroom, he expected to find Hermione still asleep.

But asleep she was not.

There, sitting up in bed, was Hermione in deep-thought with papers strewn all around her. Her eyes were staring out into space, with an almost glassy look about them. No doubt she had no idea that Severus had even entered the room.

Concerned as to what could have Hermione in such a state, Severus grabbed the closest paper to the edge of the bed and brought it up to his eye level to read. To his surprise it was the Daily Prophet, with headline news:

"_Lucius Malfoy Strikes Back! What Really Happened During the Disappearance?"_

"_Snape and Granger Secretly Wed!"_

"_Malfoy, Snape, and Granger Love Triangle Discovered!"_

"Bloody hell," he whispered aloud this time.

The newspaper looked like a tabloid dedicated solely to them! From news about Lucius at the press conference to candid pictures from all around the ward, even one with them cuddling in the corner, when he thought they were having a private moment. How the bloody hell had these pictures gotten out? And these headlines were absolute made-up shite!

After the influx of pictures finally settled into his mind and he calmed his temper, he looked up to find Hermione looking hopefully at him.

"Are you angry?" She whispered quietly.

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "Not at you," as he sat down next to her on the bed.

Severus held up the disgusting rag of a newspaper to Hermione before saying, "How did you get this?"

"Ginny owled me this morning. Quite the wake-up call, don't you think?" she said back as she played with her fingers in her lap.

'Bloody Weasley chit,' Severus thought to himself before saying aloud, "So I'm sure you've heard all about the ball as well then?"

She nodded hesitantly in response, still trying to keep from making eye-contact.

Severus saw how upset she was over this. He knew she only feared his reaction to the rubbish, and decided to ease her fears a bit. After all, he wasn't angry with her and there was no reason to take it out on her. It's not like it was her idea to hold a ball.

Severus lifted her chin with his index finger so her face finally met his and asked, "What are you going to wear?"

With a puzzled look she responded, "I haven't given it a thought yet, why?"

He smirked once before he continued, "Because if we're going as a couple, we should probably coordinate."

Hermione threw herself in his arms, glad that he was finally ok with them becoming officially public. She placed a deep kiss on his lips in thanks before pulling away.

"Really? You want to go with me to the ball?" she asked excitedly.

He placed a chaste kiss on her lips once more and responded, "There is no one I would rather go with more then you, my love."

She leaped into his arms again, basking in the loveliness of the moment. He wants to go public! She had to tell Ginny as soon as possible. Besides…her note this morning demanded that she come see her.

Hermione reluctantly pulled away from Severus one last time and said, "I have to go meet Ginny for lunch…she's angry that she hasn't gotten to speak with me for months."

Severus tensed up before he released her from his arms completely. Clearly she had struck a nerve. Was he hiding something from her again? Did Ginny have any idea what happened while she was unconscious? Did anyone besides the few residents of Hogwart's know what happened?

Timidly she asked, "Do Ginny and the boys even know that I was unconscious?"

Severus nodded stiffly, "I believe Minerva informed them," before getting up and leaving the room.

'Touchy subject, I forgot. He doesn't like to be reminded of that time,' Hermione thought to herself before getting ready and heading to the Three Broomsticks to meet her best friend.

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Was all Hermione heard as the most beautiful ginger hugged her as hard as she could while squealing into her ear.

"Ginny! Can't….breathe," Hermione choked out.

"I'm sorry, Hermione. It's been so long since I've seen you!" Ginny said excitedly as she released Hermione from the bone-crushing hug.

"I know, and I'm sorry that it's been so long! I didn't even realize! So many things have been going on in my life that I just got swept up in all of it," Hermione said apologetically back.

"No worries! I'm starved! Let's get a table," Ginny said as she grabbed Hermione by the hand and lead to her a secluded table in the corner of the pub.

After sitting down and ordering a round of butterbeers and some food, Ginny began to chat once more, "I'm glad that you're better, I would've come right away had I known you were awake! I only found out this morning. We were all so worried for you! I didn't think you would ever wake up," Ginny said with what looked like the beginning of tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Hermione reached one hand out to grab onto one of Ginny's before responding back, "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it was kind of a lot to deal with. I had no idea you and the boys didn't know, though."

"Mum's been worried sick. Actually everyone has. It's been hard," she whispered back.

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, I can't apologize enough. I really thought it was common knowledge that I was alright now."

Ginny grasped her hand tighter and smiled, "All that matters is that you're back."

Hermione smiled in return. It was always easy to be friends with Ginny!

Ginny's smile turned devious in the next moment before she whispered, "Looks like your dreams came true, huh? Severus is your man now?"

Hermione turned red in embarassament before nodding.

"Congrats, I knew he would come to his senses eventually!" Ginny squealed once more before becoming a bit more serious.

As she stirred her drink absently with the small straw that was sticking out she said, "You know he was a bloody bastard when you were in the coma."

Puzzled, Hermione furrowed her brow before asking, "Who?"

"Severus, of course. Harry, Ron, and I tried to go see you on more then a few occasions only to not be allowed in. Something about how no one was allowed to see you in this shape. I've never seen the boys so angry! You might want to have a talk with them. Ron especially," she whispered back.

Hermione rubbed her hand down her face before thinking to herself, 'That's why Severus got all weird on me. He didn't let a soul near me almost the entire time I was gone!'

Instead she said aloud, "I'm sorry he treated you all like that. He was extremely upset and blamed himself for what happened to me. I'm sure I was in horrid shape anyways."

After a moment of awkward silence Ginny asked quietly, "What did happen to you that night, Hermione? No one really knows but you and Severus."

Hermione hesitated for a second.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand."

"No! No…it's alright. It's just hard for me to talk about," Hermione stuttered out.

After a long deep breath Hermione told the story of Christmas Eve. Of course she left out the extent of her injuries, but everything else she remembered she blurted out in detail.

Ginny was stunned, but managed to whisper, "I had no idea that you went through all that! I can't believe that Severus is still blaming himself for it all either…can't he see that there was nothing he could've done?"

Hermione sighed before saying, "He's having a hard time dealing with it all. And now with the new rumors out about our relationship and the reappearance of Lucius he's at wits end again. He cares so much about me, but can't come to stop blaming himself for that night."

"Bloody hell, Hermione. I'm so sorry that all this has happened to you. The story that was told to the public was nothing like that," Ginny whispered back.

"Don't worry about it. I'm doing a lot better now. Severus has been great through it all. He really understands what I'm going through," Hermione said but paused for a minute, "Could you not tell anyone what happened to me? Not even the boys?"

"Um, sure, why?" Ginny asked hesitantly back.

"I don't want them to do anything rash or stupid. There is already a hunt going on for Lucius and I don't want them getting themselves killed over the maniac," she said sadly.

Ginny nodded, promising she would keep her secret.

"Now onto a more serious subject…" Ginny smiled deviously, "What are we going to wear to the ball?"

Hermione giggled as she paid the tab and allowed herself to be tugged out of the Three Broomsticks by her best friend.

* * *

After much debate and even more laughs, both the women found the perfect ball gowns that would make their men go crazy. With a kiss on each cheek, Hermione disapparated back to the front gates of Hogwart's.

With her secret ball gown shrunken down and tucked deeply into the pockets of her robes, Hermione trudged her way back up to the castle. After a quick skip through the hallways, she opened the doors of Severus's chambers and entered yelling, "Severus? I'm home."

She plopped down onto the couch before Severus re-emerged from where he usually was…his lab. He sauntered over and sat next to her before bringing her into his arms.

"Did you have a good time, love?" he whispered into her ear.

His voice caused shivers to run up and down her spine before she answered, "Yes, I even bought a dress for the ball. All you'll know until you see it the day of the ball is that it's green."

Severus's eyes lit up as he imagined her in his own house's colors, "Maybe this ball won't be so horrible after all," he whispered before kissing her lips.

Breaking the kiss, Hermione whispered, "Why didn't my friends know what happened to me?"

This immediately caused Severus to tense up and pull away, as he pinched the bridge of his nose once more, "Merlin, Hermione. How many times do we have to go over this?"

She reached out for him and cuddled back in his chest before whispering, "I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

He sighed feeling horrible for making her sad once again, before hugging her tightly to his chest, "No, it's alright. I didn't let anyone see you because I was miserable. I had failed to do the one thing that was my job, protect you. It was all my fault that you had been hurt and I couldn't stand to see the blame in anyone else's eyes. I didn't need to see it for I already knew I had wronged you."

Hermione whispered back, "I know you will blame yourself forever, but just know that no one else blames you."

As much as he wanted to retort back, for the first time in his life he held his tongue. For he had everything he could ever want already in his arms. There would be no point in driving her away.

Instead he placed a kiss on the crown of her head and thanked the gods she was back by his side.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I need reviews, they are my muse! You guys were on such a roll with the feedback, what happened? Last chapter was an all time low for reviews EVER. : (**

**Is anyone still reading this? Let me know! Otherwise I might be wasting my time.**

**I'm dedicating this entire chapter to my lovely reviewers from last chapter. I did this all for you! So thanks to sweet-tang-honney, (hehe thanks!), natsuboshi, and padfootsgrl79.**

**If you want your name on this list there's only one way…REVIEW!**


	21. The Ball

*ducks behind computer* Sorry it took me so long to update! Wow….life gets in the way. But I won't bore you with those details. Enjoy the next long-awaited chapter of Wicked Intentions!

Chapter 21

The Ball

The day of the ball had finally arrived. Hermione and Ginny had insisted upon spending the entire day together getting ready while the boys were off preparing themselves for the ball, or more than likely, playing Quidditch all day. It had been such a long time since the two girls had gotten some one-on-one girl time so they were very excited for the prospect of a whole day without any men.

Both women were seated at opposite ends of Hermione's vanity that was in her own private bathroom. The room provided perfect lighting and mirrors that thankfully were charmed not to voice their own opinions. The girls were applying their make-up carefully while chit-chatting about their own lives happily.

"So how are things going with you and Severus?" Ginny asked with a knowing grin.

"Honestly, things have never been better. I'm so happy with him. He makes me feel genuinely loved," Hermione gushed girlishly to her best friend, "But I can't seem to get him to forgive himself for what happened to me. It's a daily struggle."

"You were in pretty bad shape, Hermione," Ginny said pointedly as she turned from her mirror to face Hermione, "I can understand why he blames himself still. But he really does need to move on. You have your whole lives ahead of you!"

"I know. Hopefully the Aurors will catch Lucius soon or I fear the both of us will go absolutely mad. I think the only way Severus will be able to put the whole thing behind him is when they catch the bastard," Hermione sighed as she put down her own make-up brush.

Ginny went up and put her arm around Hermione and pulled her into a friendly hug and whispered, "They'll catch him. Don't you worry. Harry and Ron and the rest of the Aurors have been working day and night trying to catch him. Nobody wants that to happen to anyone ever again."

With one last squeeze, Ginny left her and returned to her half of the vanity to apply more mascara to her long eyelashes.

Hermione turned back to her mirror and started fussing with her hair when she asked, "Speaking of Harry and Ron, how upset are they with me regarding this whole Lucius and Severus issue?"

"What do you mean?" Ginny said while still looking at herself in the mirror.

"Well about how Severus treated them while I was gone and about the headlines Severus, Lucius, and I made the other day. They can't be very happy with me," Hermione said.

"Oh! Don't you worry about the boys. They were a tad disappointed to be hearing about their best friend's new relationship through the trashy gossip rags instead of from you first, but you know boys. They got over it rather quickly," She said as she began to tease her hair, "They're just glad you're happy and safe. And don't you think for one second they believed any of that garbage that was printed about Lucius. They may be daft about most things, but they definitely know you better than that."

Hermione smiled at her friend in response. Ginny always knew the best way to cheer her up from any bad mood.

The sun was now beginning to set and both ladies had already dressed in their beautiful evening gowns and were putting the finishing touches on their hair and make-up.

As Hermione was taking one last glance in the full-length mirror, she couldn't help but be overcome with apprehension. Ginny noticed immediately and put her arm around Hermione's shoulders and asked, "What's wrong?"

Hermione refused to make eye contact with her in the mirror and whispered, "I'm afraid that he'll show up tonight. They still haven't caught him you know."

Ginny hugged her tighter before saying, "Don't worry about that Hermione! There are Aurors absolutely swarming the place. And besides that Severus, Harry, and Ron would never let anything happen to you. We'll be surrounded and protected all night. He will never get to you."

Hermione took a deep breath and nodded her head silently before saying, "You're right. If there's one place I shouldn't have to worry about him it's tonight."

Ginny smiled back before smudging a small eyeliner mark off of Hermione's cheek. She then snatched her arm in hers and headed off to the Great Hall entranceway where they were to meet their dates.

* * *

As Hermione descended her way down the stairs towards him, he swore he felt his heart beat faster. He had never seen anyone lovelier than she looked tonight. That green dress would be the end of him! Forget this blasted ball, he just wanted to snatch her up and carry her back to his bedroom and spend the night there.

Alas that was not to be. He could never disappoint her by taking her away from a ball in her honor.

'Besides there's always time for that later,' he smirked to himself.

Once she was about a meter away from him, he noticed the small blush that adorned her cheeks and his heart melted. She would be the only woman for him as long as he lived.

He took one step closer to her before wrapping her in his arms and whispered into her ear, "You have never looked more beautiful than you do tonight, my love."

This made her blush even deeper and she snuggled in closer to his neck to feel his warmth. Severus tucked his index finger under her chin and brought her lips to his in a chaste kiss.

The moment was ruined when Harry and Ron began to chuckle loudly in response to the newly announced couple.

"It's about bloody time you two got together!" Harry exclaimed while still attempting to suppress his laughter, "You've only been in love with each other since forever."

Hermione disentangled herself from Severus in order to give Harry a swift jab to the arm.

He turned the jab into an opportunity to squeeze both her and Ron into one big giant bear hug. He didn't relent until not one of them could breathe.

They all broke out into laughter before Harry jokingly said, "Now don't think you can hide anything this big from us again! Remember, you're stuck with us for life."

Hermione simply rolled her eyes in mock irritation before grinning back, "Deal."

She then scurried over to Severus's side and grasped his arm tightly in hers so they could enter the Great Hall together.

The hall was beautifully decorated and completely filled to capacity with people. Anyone who is anyone in the wizarding world was within the confines of the Great Hall tonight.

Even the paparazzi were allowed in, much to Severus's chagrin. Hermione and Severus were required by duty to pose for a few pictures for the lot of them despite the events of the recent past. Severus scowled at each one of them due to their deplorable articles from the previous week while Hermione posed gracefully.

As they began to walk away from the lot of press Severus spat, "I don't know why we had to pose for more bloody photos for them. It's not like they haven't done enough to sabotage our lives yet…" before he was interrupted with a kiss from Hermione.

"Shhh, Severus. Don't let them ruin this night for us," She whispered against his lips before kissing him one last time and leading him towards the head table.

Being the guests of honor, Severus and Hermione were seated next to each other in the center of the table while being flanked by Minerva, Healer Watson, and other government officials and sponsors.

After dinner and all of the mandatory congratulatory speeches from the seemingly endless amounts of representatives, awakening potion patients, and their families, a resounding standing ovation was given to Hermione and Severus for their duties to the wizarding world.

Hermione squeezed Severus's hand under the table when she noticed how uncomfortable he looked from the attention the audience was giving them. It was her turn to comfort him when he needed it most.

He simply smiled down to her and rubbed his thumb over her hand in thanks.

Eventually the tables were cleared away and the band took the stage. The dance floor began to swarm with the rowdy crowd immediately.

Normally Severus wouldn't partake in such a pointless activity as dancing, but any excuse to have Hermione in his arms was one he wouldn't pass up. So he offered her his hand and guided her to the middle of the dance floor. She truly had made him a changed man.

After a quick spin to a fast paced song, the tempo slowed down and the dance floor cleared except for all of the couples. Hermione leaned close into Severus's chest as he held her hand over his heart.

A few measures of the song went by before Hermione broke the silence between them and whispered into his chest, "I'm worried about him. I'm worried at all times that he's just around the corner plotting his next attempt to kill me. I can't even enjoy a simple moment like this with you without him ruining it. When will it end? I can't live like this. WE can't live like this. When do we get our happy ending?"

"Shhhhh," Severus shushed into her hair while holding her closer to his body, "You are safe. I'm never letting you go again. Not until after he's caught. I love you and I will not ever let him touch you again."

Just then Severus gasped and reached into his back pocket and pulled out a galleon. Hermione immediately recognized her own invention as the galleon the DA used to use for meetings. She stared up at him as he deciphered something on the coin before seeking out Minerva who was standing up at the Head Table. Hermione noticed her silently gesture for him to follow her.

Severus quickly dropped her hand from his before escorting her towards Harry with a firm hand on her lower back.

"What's going on?" Hermione whispered under her breath to Severus.

Without making direct eye contact with her he answered, "I'm sure it's nothing, just something I must check into."

With that she found herself thrust into the arms of Harry while he seethed, "Potter, take care of her. If she's in any way harmed when I get back there'll be hell to pay."

Harry nodded his head and swore to keep her safe while Severus turned on his heel and quickly began to walk away.

Hermione began to run after him without making a scene before he gently grabbed her upper arms and lead her back to Harry.

"Please don't make this more difficult than it has to be, Hermione. I will be back shortly. There's nothing wrong. If there is I'll be back before you even notice I'm gone," He whispered in her ear and placed a kiss on her lips before handing her off once more to Harry.

Hermione huffed and plopped into her seat.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing, Hermione," Ginny reassured her friend, "Besides if it was anything terrible I'm sure both Harry and Ron would've been warned too."

"You're probably right. But I don't have to be happy about being left here," Hermione huffed in return.

The three of them sat around the table while Ginny and Harry made idle chit chat and Hermione pretended to listen. But inside, all Hermione could think about was Severus.

After who knows how long, Harry and Ginny jumped out of their chairs as their favorite song came on. They begged Hermione to dance with them, she declined vehemently but she promised she would stay put until they returned. Harry shrugged in return and carried Ginny onto the dance floor. Hermione would be alright by herself for just one song after all. There were too many people around to not notice her disappearing.

Hermione couldn't help the terrible thoughts that were racing through her mind every minute Severus was gone.

'What was taking Severus so long? What if he was hurt? What if there really was a threat? Did he really expect her to just sit by and do nothing while everyone else risked their lives for hers?'

After another few minutes her concern ebbed away into annoyance and anger with Severus.

'There's no way I'm sitting here any longer! I was sorted into Gryffindor for a reason! I'm going to find out exactly what is going on myself,' she thought to herself as she stood up out of her seat and headed stealthily towards the doors of the great hall.

'As long as I can get out of here unnoticed I should be able to track down Severus myself,' she continued to think to herself as she cracked open the giant doors of the hall, 'Just a brief peek into the hallway just to make sure everything is ok. Severus will probably be beyond enraged with me should he ever find out. But maybe he shouldn't have left me here by myself either after just promising he would never let me go.'

She glanced up and down the hallway before she stepped into the extremely dark corridor.

The last thing she saw before she blacked out was a black leather gloved hand covering her mouth with an odd smelling white cloth.

* * *

A/N: I'm back! Thanks for sticking around and welcome to my dark and twisted world to the newbies. I swear….updates will never ever take this long again. I apologize!


	22. False Alarms?

As promised, I'm not going to disappear anytime soon. Here's another chapter!

Chapter 22

False Alarms?

After Severus escorted Hermione back to Potter one last time he turned on his heel and billowed out of the Great Hall without looking back. He knew if he saw the broken look on her face that he would crumble and run back to her and never let her go. But right now her safety was his biggest concern. Whatever or whoever happened to breach the castle's security could potentially be a serious threat to all who were enjoying the now raging party. He absolutely would not allow another attack on these grounds as long as he had anything to do about it.

He realized he was being a walking contradiction as he had just told Hermione that he would never let her go, but some things couldn't be avoided. He would make it up to her later. Her wrath was small price to pay when it came to protecting her.

As he continued his way out of the Great Hall and into the dark hallways that were just beyond the enormous doors, he couldn't help but hope that Hermione would listen to him for once and not leave the safety of the party.

'Merlin, that woman's going to be the end of me,' Severus thought to himself as he rounded the first hallway's corner, 'Potter better bloody take care of her while I'm gone if he knows what's good for him.'

After a short walk down the hallway, Severus spotted where Minerva was standing. He gestured for her to follow him into a more secluded hallway before he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"What's going on? Is this really as serious of a threat as we think it is?" he asked her with concern.

Minerva sighed once before whispering back, "As far as I can tell there was a breach in the wards near the boundaries of the forbidden forest. It was a weak fluctuation in the wards and I'm not sure it's something to worry about but I don't think we should leave it uninvestigated."

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose with irritation at Minerva's response before scowling back, "What kind of 'fluctuation'? Because if you took me away from the ball being thrown in _my_ honor and unnecessarily upset my date due to some bloody animal sneaking across the Quidditch pitch you're going to have a lot to deal with."

"Like I don't already," Minerva whispered under her breath while Severus scowled even more deeply at her.

"Let's just get this over with so I can go back to my night," Severus sneered back.

He turned quickly on his heel billowed down the hall leaving Minerva walking a few steps behind.

Minerva quickly caught up with Severus and they discreetly exited the castle through a side door as to not alarm any of the stray party guests that may have left the Great Hall. There was no need for panic to ensue…it would only make everything worse than it already was.

As they walked silently across the lawn of the castle, he hoped to whatever was holy that this was a false alarm. Not only for the sheer inconvenience of having to leave Hermione during a party being thrown in their honor, but because he wasn't sure that Hogwart's could handle another attack on it's grounds. The parents of the students would begin to question the safety of their own children and potentially remove them from the school. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened after all. But deep down he knew better, Minerva would never have used the coin signal for what was more than likely a false security breach.

They finally approached the area that Minerva believed that the wards had been broken and quickly began waving their wands to examine the surrounding wards.

After a few minutes Minerva sighed, "Well these wards look to be intact, but I think we should take a look at all of the wards surrounding the grounds."

"Do you really think that's necessary? The wards from the spot of the supposed breach look untouched!" Severus said with irritation.

"Better to be safe then sorry. Now let's stop wasting time and begin so you can head back to your party," Minerva said while trying to keep her temper under control.

Severus huffed in return before lifting his wand and walking along the wards of the grounds.

After a thorough search of the entire grounds came up empty-handed, Minerva was finally satisfied that everything was indeed secure, much to Severus's chagrin.

Now completely irritated at the situation, Severus turned to Minerva and seethed, "Well thanks for that huge bloody waste of time! Just how shoddy are your wards any ways? How could a simple forest animal set them off to such a large magnitude that it had both of us searching blindly out here for over an hour?" Severus continued to yell at his colleague, "Are you absolutely certain Albus taught you anything before you became headmistress?"

"Well my mistake, Severus. Really now, there's no need to get your knickers in a twist. Better to be safe then sorry after all." Minerva said as she threw her hands up in the air.

"If you insist," Severus responded tersely, "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to the Great Hall to enjoy the rest of _my_ bloody party."

With that he walked away and let Minerva follow him back to the Great Hall.

* * *

As soon as he entered the Hall he immediately searched out Hermione. If anything could calm the bad temper he now had it would be her. If she would even speak to him after he abruptly left her earlier despite the claims he had made.

Immediately his eyes scanned to where he had left her sitting with Potter.

But she was no longer moping in the same seat he had left her in.

'That's odd. I figure she would still be beyond vexed with me. Maybe she's actually enjoying herself with her friends instead,' he thought to himself as he headed onto the dance floor to seek the group out.

At once he found Potter on the dance floor, grooving to the quick beat the music had provided. He was surrounded by the crowd so Severus could only partially see who he was with.

But when he finally fully made his way through the crowd to where Mr. and Mrs. Potter were dancing, Hermione was nowhere to be found.

'Remain calm, Severus. I'm sure she's around here somewhere,' he whispered to himself as he tried to finagle his way out of the unruly crowd to search for Hermione elsewhere.

But after three laps around the entirety of the Great Hall, she was still missing.

All pretenses of remaining calm immediately flew out the window.

He quickly stalked back through the crowd and over to where Potter was still dancing and grasped him by the front of the dress robes, lifted him slightly off the ground and screamed, "Where the bloody hell is she, Potter? I give you one job and yet you still managed to some how fuck it up!"

Harry began to sputter for breath as he grasped for Severus's hand that was blocking off his airway at the collar of his robes.

After a few moments of watching Potter gasp for air, he realized he wasn't going to get any answers if the boy was dead, so Severus opened his hand to drop Potter to the ground.

Harry rubbed his neck and sputtered on the ground before looking up at Severus and yelled, "What the hell are you going on about? She's sitting right over there," he said as he pointed over to the table where Hermione was last seen.

Once he realized that she was no longer where he had left here, he got a confused look on his face and stuttered, "But…but I don't….she was right there, I swear!"

This was the last straw for Severus who angrily pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at Harry's chest with a curse on his lips as Ginny screamed, "No!"

If they didn't have everyone's attention before they certainly did now. The surrounding crowd was gasping in shock at the fight that was about to take place before them.

"Put down the bloody wand, Severus! Have you gone completely mad?" Ginny screamed as she punched Severus in the chest with her small fist.

Completely unmoved by Ginny's ineffectual 'punch', Severus continued to point his wand for another second at Harry's chest before sheathing it back within his robes.

As he noticed that everyone was still staring at him, he yelled at the crowd, "What are you all looking at? Back to the party, now!"

As most of the people in attendance were former students of his, they didn't need telling twice and everyone slowly began to dance to the music once again.

Severus shot one last look of disgust at Potter who was still on the ground before he walked over to the table that he had left Hermione at and dropped his head into his hands.

'Where had she gone to? Was she really that upset with him that she left the party entirely?' he wondered to himself as he began to pull at his own hair.

'Why didn't she tell anyone she was leaving? Was she really that big of a bloody stupid Gryffindor that she would risk her safety to search the castle for him?' he thought in irritation.

Then it dawned on him.

Maybe the breach of the wards wasn't simply an animal…maybe Hermione really was in trouble.

Maybe Lucius had some how gotten back into the castle.

Without another thought he sent a message through his coin to Minerva and stalked off out of the Great Hall and into the darkness of the belly of the castle to look for his Hermione.

"Merlin, please let her be ok," he whispered to himself as he left.

* * *

A/N: After thousands upon thousands of hits and visits, I only got 5 reviews! While I do deeply appreciate those reviews, and definitely deserve the cold shoulder after my long absence, I'm asking you guys to leave me even a small note on how you like the story so far or where you think I should take it.

So please be kind and review!


	23. Abduction

Yay! I'm back for another update. Thanks for all the reviews! Here's your present…another chapter!

Chapter 23

Abduction

Hermione's eyes began to flutter open as she began to regain consciousness ever so slowly. She was confused as to what had awoken her from her deep sleep when she felt her upper body thumping back and forth against a hard, warm surface. After a few more blinks of her eyes and as even more of the chemically induced confusion left her mind, she realized that the warm surface she was thumping against was a person's back. By the broadness of the person's shoulders and the height at which her head hung from the ground, she could tell it was clearly a man's back. As for the thumping, the movement of her body was timed with every stride the man took.

Her eyes opened wide as she craned her head up against the pull of gravity to see herself getting farther and farther away from the safety of the castle. As the final traces of dizziness from whatever chemical was used on her faded away, she realized that she had been flung over the shoulder of this man and he was taking her away from the castle.

Away from Severus.

This put her into a frenzy as she began to flail her arms and legs praying that whoever it was that was holding her hostage would drop her in surprise.

"Ah Ah Ah, Miss Granger," Lucius Malfoy clicked his tongue in disapproval as he grasped her legs close to his chest.

"Try all you might to get away, but it will be in vain. I _will_ take you away from here tonight. Whether you like it or not," Lucius drawled on with his practiced arrogance.

"Why are you doing this to me? Let me go! The entire castle is surely already looking for me. You'll never get away with this!" she yelled as she began to flail harder.

He tightened his hold on her upper legs against his chest to the point of pain as he growled, "There's nothing to stop me this time. McGonagall and Severus are both investigating a…break...in the wards. I've covered my bases this time," he said before giving a low sadistic chuckle.

Plans of how to escape began to race around Hermione's mind. She dug around through her thoughts, trying to remember anything she had read in the past that would help her get out of this situation. A spell, a curse, anything!

Finally she stumbled upon remnants of some useless fact she had once read. She was sure she had read in some Muggle book somewhere that it was best to show respect to your captor and to keep calm. This proved to have the largest chance of survival.

'Definitely easier said than done,' she thought as he continued their journey away from the castle.

'What else did that book say about being captured?' she thought to herself as she scrunched her eyebrows together in deep concentration, 'Oh yes! Try to relate to the person's humanity!'

Her eyebrows furrowed even deeper at this thought, 'But this is Lucius I'm talking about. Does he even have any humanity left?'

'Oh bollocks!' Hermione thought to herself one last time before diving into action.

At once Hermione calmly said, "Lucius, we both know you're going to get caught. Why continue with this plan?"

Lucius simply scoffed at this remark and pushed on towards the outer gates of Hogwart's.

"If you let me go now, you can escape from here and flee the country to go live out your days somewhere in peace. Do you really want to spend the rest of your life holed up in Azkaban? What about Draco? He needs you around. Think of him!" Hermione pleaded calmly.

Lucius began to slow his steps but definitely kept proceeding further away from the castle.

Hermione took this as a positive sign as she continued to say, "Put me back to the ground and I'll walk back to the castle and never speak a word of this to anyone. Not the Headmistress. Not Severus. Not the Minister of Magic. I'll tell everyone I went to investigate the wards and got caught up in my own thoughts down by the lake. Put me down and you'll be a free man. Consider your options, Lucius."

At this thought he came to a quick stop.

He seemed to nervously mull over his decision for a moment before continuing away from the castle at an even quicker pace.

Hermione's heart jumped into her throat. Her last option of survival had just flown out the window.

"Did you really think I would give up my months of planning just to give up now, you filthy mudblood? You and your stupid little friends have already taken everything from me. Everything!" He screamed, "I was set to rule the wizarding world alongside the Dark Lord and you and your bloody Order of the Phoenix took that from me."

He tossed her up higher onto his shoulder before continuing, "And now, I'm taking the best part of the 'side of the light," he said mockingly, "You."

Any sort of calm or the stupid rules of survival that Hermione was trying to follow left her and she began to do the last thing she could….scream her lungs out, hoping someone would hear her.

"HELP ME! SOMEONE, PLEASE! SEVERUS! HELP!" were the only things she could get out before Lucius cast 'Silencio' on her.

"Shut the fuck up!" he screamed as he cast an unknown dark curse on her right leg.

Even though Hermione's voice was silenced, her vocal chords still strained with the effort of screaming because of the shattering of her femur due to the curse he had cast.

She had never felt such horrible pain. Until he cast his next curse.

The next minute Lucius cast another curse which sliced open her other leg from top to bottom.

As blood began to seep down her legs, she couldn't help but get woozy. Whether it was from blood loss or the sheer pain, she wasn't sure. She didn't know how she was going to survive this even if she did manage to get away from Lucius before he got out of the castle's wards. But she knew if Lucius managed to apparate her away from Hogwart's she wouldn't have to worry about surviving at all.

She would be as good as dead.

* * *

Severus furiously marched all around the corridors of the castle searching for Hermione.

He used every locator spell and summoning charm he could think of to locate her.

"These bloody stupid wards on this castle! I can't even use a bloody locating charm!" Severus screamed out into the empty halls with frustration. When this was all over he would speak with Minerva about adjusting the wards for circumstances like this.

After ten more minutes of searching for her, serious concern about Hermione's welfare began to set in.

'What the bloody hell were all of these aurors here for if they couldn't even manage to keep the castle safe from serial killers!' he thought to himself. He would have to have a long talk with Kingsley about the standards of the Aurors training program when all of this was over with.

"Those bloody good-for-nothing government officials!" He seethed aloud to himself as he passed a small group of Aurors standing around talking.

After ten more minutes of searching around the castle for Hermione came and went, his concern slid into full out panic.

'Lucius could've taken her anywhere by now. She's probably long gone,' he thought to himself.

He slid slowly down against the wall as he took one moment to gather himself and his composure. He would allow himself just one minute of solitude before he would continue on looking for her.

But this one minute proved to be counter-productive as his mind automatically jumped to the worst case scenario.

How would he live without her? Was she suffering badly right now? Would he at least find her body?

He shook his head sharply as he tried to snap out of it. He couldn't think this way. He wouldn't give up on looking for her until he found, dead or alive.

"Hopefully alive," he whispered to himself.

After he finished searching the castle he headed out the front doors of the castle. It was worth a shot, even though he had just been out here searching the grounds with Minerva.

He walked the entire circumference of the castle, before standing in front of the main doors and running his hand down in his face in despair.

He had truly lost her. On his own watch nonetheless.

Just as he was turning to go back inside and clear everyone out of the party to alert the authorities, he heard a woman's scream.

But this was not just any woman's scream.

"Hermione," he whispered aloud before taking off at a stealthy run towards where he heard the voice.

Maybe there was hope after all.

* * *

A/N: Hate it? Love it? Want some more of it? Please leave a review!


	24. Too Little Too Late

Thanks for the reviews! You guys absolutely rock! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Chapter 24

Too Little Too Late

Tears began to leak down her face even faster as Hermione and Lucius continued to cross the lawn. As the castle became smaller and smaller so did her hope of ever being rescued. Surely there was no way to get out of this. She had exhausted all of her rescue opportunities. As she racked her brain for one last possibility of a rescue strategy, she came up blank.

What else could she do? Her leg was surely beyond saving, or at the very least would only be a hindrance in her escape.

She soon realized that there was nothing left for her to do. She was at the mercy of fate.

She finally succumbed to her fate as she went limp against Lucius's back. There was nothing left to hope for except for her death to be swift. But she was certain that would not be the case.

Hermione lifted her head to get one last glimpse of the castle she had come to know as home. She needed one last memory of happiness to get her through the torture that Lucius would ensure she would suffer. As tears clouded her eyes, she thought she saw a small dark silhouette standing in front of the lights of the castle. Clearly it was a mirage. For there wasn't a single viable reason there would be anyone outside the castle at this time of night.

She blinked a few times in disbelief, but opened her eyes wide once more.

The person was still there. But not only was the person still there, the silhouette was getting bigger and bigger indicating that it was getting closer and closer.

Who could it be? Could someone have actually heard her cries for help?

As the figure approached closer and closer she could tell by the billowing robes that it could only be Severus. She wanted to weep with happiness! He had found her! Maybe he had heard her screams. Tears began to stream faster down her cheeks. Although these tears were entirely different than those she had just cried. These were tears of hope, not despair.

She quickly realized that she had to hold herself together. Any sort of disturbance on her part would cause Lucius to turn around. Her only godsend right now, was that Lucius had no idea what was behind him because he was walking facing forward towards the gates.

As Severus stealthily approached Hermione and Lucius, well practiced after years of being a double agent in the Dark Lord's ranks, his eyes locked with Hermione's. She nodded towards him in acknowledgement. In return he held up one finger to his lips, gesturing for her to keep quiet.

As if she had a choice with the bloody curse Lucius had on her.

But she knew Severus didn't know that the curse was placed on her, especially if the only reason he found her was because of her earlier screams. But she nodded once more indicating she wouldn't make a sound. She knew the element of surprise was the only thing they had going for them right now. Severus would have to use it to its full potential in order for them both to make it out of this alive.

After one or two strides closer, Severus raised his wand to strike Lucius in the back of the head.

But before Severus could utter out a single word, Lucius swung Hermione down from his shoulder and pulled her flush against his chest. The sudden harsh movements of Hermione's body caused her to cry out from the pain.

Lucius ignored her silent cries before swiftly turning around to face Severus with his wand shoved harshly into Hermione's neck. With Hermione as a human shield, there was little left for Severus to do without risking serious injury to his beloved. And he knew Lucius knew this as well as he did.

Lucius kept slowly taking steps back while dragging Hermione along with him towards the gates of the castle with his wand pushed even harder into Hermione's neck.

"I thought you might show up, Severus," he sneered loudly with wild eyes. "But it's too little too late. You can't hurt me without hurting her." He began to laugh manically. Clearly all semblance of sanity had left Lucius in the past months.

"Put her down, now, Lucius," Severus said dangerously low as he raised his wand even higher towards Lucius's head.

"Now, now, Severus. Do you really think it's that simple? That I'll let her go because _you_ demanded it?" Lucius said as he pulled Hermione even closer to his chest as she tried to struggle, "I don't think so. You see…I'm the one in control now. And there's nothing you can do to stop me!"

Lucius then raised an eyebrow in defiance as he cast another curse on Hermione to test the patience of Severus, "_Sectumsempra_!" he bellowed.

Immediately a gash opened up down the middle of Hermione's stomach. Blood began to profusely pour out of her already injured body as she tried to scream aloud and grasp at her fresh wound.

Severus's step faltered as the curse of his own making was used against Hermione. As he took in the agonizing look on her face he suddenly realized that there was no way she would last much longer, especially after this curse compounded with the effects of god knows what other curses he had cast on her.

"Tsk, Tsk. It's a shame you can't hear her scream properly, for her screams are just as lovely as she is. Let me fix that for you," he taunted before ending the _silencio_ on Hermione.

At once her cries of agony began to pour into the silence of the dark night. Severus had never heard such a terrible sound in his life.

And he was an ex-death eater.

He was rendered immobilized for a moment by the screams of the woman he loved, before he came back to reality. He couldn't simply stand there and let this maniac steal the woman he loved from him!

As he gripped his wand even tighter, he began to utter a curse before he was interrupted by Lucius digging his wand deeper into Hermione's neck and Hermione crying out.

"Don't do this, Severus! Just leave me! Go!" Hermione cried out as she realized that she was definitely going to die. There was no need for Severus to die along side her. She needed to get him out of here before it came to that.

But after a brief faltering moment, Hermione's screams had thrown Severus over the edge as he proceeded to take a few giant steps closer to Lucius, raised his wand higher and screamed, "Put her down or I WILL kill you!"

"Never! You don't stand a chance! This time I'll win! Go ahead! Try and curse me! The only one who will suffer here is your dear Miss Granger," Lucius screamed out angrily as his wand caused Hermione's neck to begin to bleed slightly due to his anger.

Severus was at a loss of what to do. He couldn't attack Lucius because he would kill Hermione. What was he supposed to do? He scoured his brain for strategic plan for a moment, before he took a look at Hermione. Maybe she could inspire him.

As he looked over to her he noticed that her screams had ebbed to a quiet whimper as her breathing became ragged and her eyes opened less and less often.

He was losing her.

If he didn't act soon, there would be nothing left to save. Action would be the only thing that would save her at this point.

Severus clenched his jaw at this but kept his wand steady. She noticed him looking determinedly at her before yelling at him.

"Leave, Severus! Leave me," She tried to scream as she locked eyes with him, but it only came out as a whisper with the injuries she had sustained.

They were only feet from the gates of the grounds now. Severus continued to stand as still as a statue as he and Hermione continued to lock eyes lovingly.

"I knew you were too cowardly to do anything. You never were the one to look out for anyone but yourself. For this I thank you, Severus," Lucius interrupted by evilly taunting his former friend, "Now I get to kill the girl without any interference from you. Hell, maybe I'll even kill her right here right now to really drive my point home!" he screamed as he pushed his wand even harder into Hermione's neck.

Severus knew that Lucius was never the one to bluff. His threats were always followed up by action. Especially when those threats concerned murder.

He quickly glanced one last time at Hermione to gauge her reaction to what Lucius had said.

Hermione's eyes were full of love and defeat as they linked with Severus's for one last time and she whispered "I love you."

This one last act of love finally pushed Lucius over the edge as he was determined to see Severus suffer.

Lucius continued to point his wand at Hermione's neck as he began to utter "_Avada-"_

"No!" Severus screamed as he leaped forwards towards where Hermione and Lucius were standing in one last attempt to save her life and therefore his own sanity.

Just as he had lost all hope of ever saving her, he heard a yell of a man's voice from the clearing to the right of where he was standing.

"_Stupefy_" rang out into the night.

Lucius didn't have time to finish his own violent curse before he dropped to the ground motionless but still breathing. Hermione landed directly on top of his chest, gasping unsuccessfully for breath as her injuries began to finally overwhelm her small body.

Severus turned with his wand out to see where the curse had come from to see Potter standing in a clearing to the right.

He lowered his wand and nodded once in appreciation to Potter before running towards where Hermione was laying.

Severus gathered her gently in his arms and slid them both backwards away from Lucius's stupefied body.

Once he got them a few feet away from the psychopath, he laid her down on the cold ground to assess her condition.

She was still breathing, just barely. He began to quickly wave his wand over her body as he briefly noticed in his peripheral vision a small group of individuals making their way towards him.

After he staunched the blood flow from both her leg and her stomach and he set her leg in a splint, he took one last account of her vitals before sitting back on knees with relief.

His Hermione would be alright.

At once he moved back towards her and he picked her up once more as he sat on the ground. He cradled her head in the crook of his left arm and caressed her still warm cheek with his right hand while whispering her name, "Hermione? Wake up, love. It's all over now. Please wake up."

He let out a gasp of air in relief as her eyes blinked open and she whispered, "Severus."

By now he realized that the small group of people he had briefly noticed before consisted of Potter, McGonagall, Ron Weasley, and a few Aurors.

The entire group of people all had their wands focused on the unmoving body of Lucius, before Potter turned to Severus after giving him a moment with Hermione.

"What do you want me to do with him, Severus?" Harry interrupted their moment by asking.

At once Severus said angrily, "Let me end this once and for all. I can't let him hurt anyone else the way he has hurt Hermione," he whispered vengefully as he lifted his wand at Lucius's unmoving body.

"_Avada_-"

For the second time that night, the killing curse was interrupted when Hermione's small hand came to rest on his wand arm.

"No, Severus. Don't kill him, "she whispered with the last bit of strength she had.

Severus faltered for a second at her interruption as he looked down to the woman in his arms with a question in his eyes.

"Don't turn into him. Don't end up in Azkaban in his place. Let the ministry deal with him," she whispered with her last bit of strength.

Severus considered this for a moment as he held his wand up for another second before dropping it back to his side.

"Take him away, Potter," Severus whispered softly back as his eyes remained settled on Hermione.

Harry nodded once before body binding him and floating his body away from the scene.

Severus simply gathered Hermione in his arms and stood up. She had fallen asleep with exhaustion due to a combination of the night's events and the trauma induced on her body.

He sighed one last sigh of relief before walking back up towards the castle to bring Hermione to the hospital wing.

* * *

A/N: Yayy! They both lived! I probably only have a chapter or two left. I'm considering a sequel! What do you all think?


	25. Happily Ever After

Here it is! The long awaited final chapter of Wicked Intentions! Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 25

Happily Ever After

Hermione's eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings. She was laying in a clean nightgown in a bed in the hospital wing. She had been here often enough with the boys when they were students to know exactly where she was.

As she attempted to lift her body up onto her shoulders she winced in pain. Her entire body ached but mostly her stomach and leg. Lucius had really done some work on her, but she was lucky to be alive.

'No Awakening Potion necessary this time,' she thought to herself.

But she could definitely use a couple of pain potions to soothe her newly mended body. So she began to search around for Severus. She was surprised he wasn't flittering around her bedside as soon as she woke. How very unlike him!

She didn't have to look very far to find him. For there, sleeping peacefully in the chair next to the side of her bed was Severus Snape.

Hermione took in the sight of the peaceful look on his face as he slept before reaching out slowly for his hand. The pain in her leg was getting worse and she wanted to get it managed before it got out of control.

As her fingertips grazed the back of his hand, Severus immediately jumped to attention.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Severus whispered to her as he assessed her body for new injuries. Surely they had gotten them all fixed last night.

"Shhhhh, Severus. I'm fine. Just in a little pain," Hermione hushed him as he grasped his hand fully in hers.

He calmed down from his panic after knowing she was fine before he gave her a small kiss on the back of the hand then on the lips.

"I'll go get you a pain potion, love," he whispered before leaving her side to get the potion.

He was back within a minute, gently putting his arm around her back to help her sit up.

Hermione grimaced in pain as he helped her into a sitting position.

Severus furrowed his brow in concern as he took in her painful expression, "I'm sorry, love. You have to sit up to take the potion."

Hermione nodded her head in understanding before grasping the small potion bottle from his hand and downing it in one gulp.

"That's good. You'll feel better in no time," Severus whispered as he helped her to lie back down.

After he made sure she would be comfortable he sat on the side of her bed with her hand in his. One or two moments of silence went by before Hermione whispered softly.

"What are they going to do with Lucius?" Hermione asked quietly.

Severus sighed, "We can discuss this later. Focus on healing right now. That's all that's important."

But Hermione wouldn't let the conversation die that easily, "I can handle it. Whatever you're going to tell me, I can handle it."

Severus rubbed his hand down his face in exasperation before saying, "Well I see that you're feeling well enough to fight me on this."

"Please, Severus," she whispered in return.

He cleared his throat before starting, "They expedited his hearing and sentencing into last night."

"What? How is that possible? Usually that takes months!" Hermione said in shock.

"Indeed, you're right. Typically these cases can take up to six months to be processed, not only sixteen hours," he rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand to calm her before continuing, "But thanks to his past transgressions and the Golden Boy's help they were able to put Lucius away last night."

A tear of joy came to Hermione's eye as she processed the news.

Seeing how happy she was Severus leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips before whispering against them, "It's over, love. We never have to worry about that psychopath again."

"We can start our lives together," she whispered back before placing a not-so-chaste kiss against his lips.

He pulled back before things got too heated; fearing that she physically wasn't ready due to her recent trauma.

"I only wish they would've given him the kiss," Severus said angrily.

"It doesn't matter. Both the kiss and Azkaban are terrible sentences. He deserved nothing less," Hermione said.

"You're right. He can't hurt us any more, Hermione. That's all that matters," Severus said in agreement.

With this he decided to widen the bed and lay down next to his beloved.

As he took her into his arms, she nuzzled into his chest. He placed a kiss to the crown of her head and whispered, "As soon as you get out of here, what do you think about officially becoming Mrs. Snape?"

Hermione turned her head up to look him in the eyes to see if he was serious. When she saw that he was she placed a passionate kiss on his lips.

Severus broke the kiss before whispering, "I'll take that as a yes then?"

"Of course you silly man!" she smiled back as she lovingly slapped him in the chest and bent her head up for one more kiss.

"Then I am the luckiest man in the world," he whispered back before accepting her kiss.

The End

A/N: That's all folks! I hope you've had just as much fun reading this story as I've had writing it. It's been a long journey and I appreciate everyone for sticking around through the very end.

Keep me on author alert for my next story I have coming out in the next couple of weeks and it will be called _"The Doulos Bond"_

It will be a completely new story. A sequel to this story may be in the works soon too. Who knows?

Author Alert me to keep up to date!

Thanks again!


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